On Civilization's Edge

By Kathryn Ciancia,

Book cover of On Civilization's Edge: A Polish Borderland in the Interwar World

Book description

As a resurgent Poland emerged at the end of World War I, an eclectic group of Polish border guards, state officials, military settlers, teachers, academics, urban planners, and health workers descended upon Volhynia, an eastern borderland province that was home to Ukrainians, Poles, and Jews. Its aim was not simply…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked On Civilization's Edge as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

From mud and muck to modernity? This elegant examination of the margins of interwar Poland sheds much light on the ins and outs of belonging as well as broader Polish ambitions of being considered part of the civilized world. While Kathryn Ciancia focuses on the push to modernize the ethnically complex eastern borderland that was the province of Volhynia, inhabited by Jews and Ukrainians as well as Poles, she also importantly situates Poland within a global framework.

Want books like On Civilization's Edge?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like On Civilization's Edge.

Browse books like On Civilization's Edge

Book cover of The Devil's Chain: Prostitution and Social Control in Partitioned Poland
Book cover of If the Walls Could Speak: Inside a Women's Prison in Communist Poland
Book cover of Colonial Fantasies, Imperial Realities: Race Science and the Making of Polishness on the Fringes of the German Empire, 1840-1920

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,546

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Ukraine, Poland, and presidential biography?

Ukraine 99 books
Poland 122 books