Warsaw: A City at War 1939–45
Historians Prit Buttar and Lottie Taylor bring to light the unparalleled experience of a city caught between two invading powers, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, and the resilience of its citizens.
This fascinating history illuminates how Warsaw's centuries-old fight for identity shaped the course of its wartime experience. For a mere 21 years, Warsaw thrived as the proud capital of an independent Poland, only to be betrayed when Nazi Germany invaded in 1939. Yet the heart of the city – its people – refused to surrender. From the tragic Ghetto Uprising to the heroic city-wide revolt, Warsaw's resistance was fierce as it faced the systematic attempt to erase it from the map. The story does not end with the conclusion of the war, as Warsaw found itself trapped behind the Iron Curtain.
This compelling narrative is not just about battles – it's about a city and its inhabitants, whose unwavering spirit defined them in the darkest of times. Drawing from rare archival material including countless first-hand accounts, Warsaw's wartime years are majestically brought to life.
Published: Sep 08 2026
Format: Hardback
Edition: 1st
Pages: 416
ISBN: 9781472873514
Imprint: Osprey Publishing
Illustrations: 1 x 8pp plate section of 14 black-and-white images
Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.25 inches
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Excerpts from 'Campo Dei Fiori' and In Warsaw from The Collected Poems, 1931-1987 by Czestaw Milosz. Copyright © 1988 by Czestaw Mitosz Royalties, Inc. Used by permission of Harper Collins Publishers.
Plate section image credits are given in full in the List of Illustrations (pp. 7-9).
Maps by Prit Buttar
Index by Mark Swift
Typeset by Lumina Datamatics Ltd
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, Elcograf S.p.A.
Table of Contents
7 List of Illustrations
10 List of Maps
11 Dramatis Personae
15 Introduction
25 Chapter 1: The Rebirth of a Nation
57 Chapter 2: Lebensraum
77 Chapter 3: Fall Weiss
101 Chapter 4: A New Partition
121 Chapter 5: Intelligenzaktion
147 Chapter 6: Oppression and Defiance
175 Chapter 7: The Warsaw Ghetto
207 Chapter 8: Endlösung and The Ghetto Uprising
243 Chapter 9: Resistance
265 Chapter 10: Burza
291 Chapter 11: Tragedy
335 Chapter 12: The Devastated City
361 Glossary
366 Notes
399 Bibliography
412 Index