Norman Davies

​Historian, St. Antony’s College, Oxford University, United Kingdom

Warsaw Security Forum

Mr. Norman Davies is an accomplished historian and academic.

Mr. Davies began his career as a school teacher. He emerged as a historical author with White Eagle, Red Star (1972) which was written during a research fellowship at St. Antony's College. He found his way into radio and later TV via the BBC World Service to which he made contributions relative to current affairs in the Soviet Block.

Mr. Davies' academic career centred on the School of Slavonic Studies, University of London, where he was successively Lecturer, Reader and Professor. A quarter of a century in London was supplemented by regular assignments abroad at Columbia, Mc Gill, Hokkaido, Stanford, Harvard, Adelaide and the ANU in Canberra. He was elected Fell of the British Academy in 1997.

He is the author of the book about Polish history: Poland, God's Playground (1981),  Europe: A History (OUP, 1996), which became a Number 1 best-seller in Britain and The Isles: A History (1999).

He was awarded the CMG in 2001 for 'services to history', and has collected several Polish distinctions including the Order of Merit. He is an honorary citizen of several cities, including Wroclaw: and the holder of numerous honorary degrees, most recently a D. Litt from Sussex.

Mr. Davies is a graduate of a number of universities, including: Grenoble, Perugia and Kraków. Though formally retired from his academic post in 1996, Norman Davies continues to write and publish.

Norman Davies

​Historian, St. Antony’s College, Oxford University, United Kingdom

Warsaw Security Forum

Mr. Norman Davies is an accomplished historian and academic.

Mr. Davies began his career as a school teacher. He emerged as a historical author with White Eagle, Red Star (1972) which was written during a research fellowship at St. Antony's College. He found his way into radio and later TV via the BBC World Service to which he made contributions relative to current affairs in the Soviet Block.

Mr. Davies' academic career centred on the School of Slavonic Studies, University of London, where he was successively Lecturer, Reader and Professor. A quarter of a century in London was supplemented by regular assignments abroad at Columbia, Mc Gill, Hokkaido, Stanford, Harvard, Adelaide and the ANU in Canberra. He was elected Fell of the British Academy in 1997.

He is the author of the book about Polish history: Poland, God's Playground (1981),  Europe: A History (OUP, 1996), which became a Number 1 best-seller in Britain and The Isles: A History (1999).

He was awarded the CMG in 2001 for 'services to history', and has collected several Polish distinctions including the Order of Merit. He is an honorary citizen of several cities, including Wroclaw: and the holder of numerous honorary degrees, most recently a D. Litt from Sussex.

Mr. Davies is a graduate of a number of universities, including: Grenoble, Perugia and Kraków. Though formally retired from his academic post in 1996, Norman Davies continues to write and publish.