The Last King of Poland

by Adam Zamoyski

Recommendations from our site

“I mentioned the Commonwealth of Lithuania and Poland…The Last King of Poland, Adam Zamoyski’s biography of Stanislaw-August Poniatowski, is the book I would recommend for people to get a feel for it. Everyone says he was King of Poland, but he came from Lithuania. He was born on a big estate in what is now Belarus. He was one of Catherine the Great’s many lovers, and he was raised to the throne through his many connections in Russia. The book is extremely well done, very well written. It shows the terrible dilemma he faced. “ Read more...

The best books on Europe’s Vanished States

Norman Davies, Historian