Ivor Norman Richard Davies – a British-Polish historian, emeritus professor at University College London, a member of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences and the British Academy, author of works on the history of Europe, Poland and the British Isles, and a Knight of the Order of the White Eagle. He studied history at Magdalen College, University of Oxford, in Grenoble, in Perugia and at the University of Sussex. He had intended to study in the Soviet Union (for a PhD in philosophy), but was refused a Soviet visa. Instead, he came to Kraków, where he obtained his doctorate from the Jagiellonian University in 1973. From 1972, he was a lecturer, and from 1985 to 1996 a full professor at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London. In 1996, he was appointed professor emeritus at that institution. In addition, he is an honorary fellow of St Antony’s College, Oxford, and Clare Hall, Cambridge. He is also a corresponding member of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences in Kraków. After taking early retirement, he devoted himself to writing books. His works include: "God’s Playground" (A History of Poland in two volumes), "The Heart of Europe" (A Brief History of Poland), "The White Eagle, the Red Star", "The Polish–Soviet War 1919–1920", "Europe, Microcosm" (a history of Wrocław), and "The Islands". His work, "The 1944 Uprising", was one of the best-selling books of August 2004. Thanks to the book "God’s Playground", the history of Poland has become more accessible to readers in the West.