Widely regarded as one of the classics of post-war historical writing, this book shows how central the role of poverty has been throughout the history of Europe.

• 
  
• A history of poverty in Europe covering over 1000 years.
  
• Translated into Italian, French, German, Spanish and Japanese.
  
• High profile author - a leading member of solidarity and professor at the College de France.

Bronislaw Geremek was lecturer at the Sorbonne (1960-1965) were he also directed the Centre for Polish Civilization until 1966. In 1965 he was appointed head of the Research Unit on the History of Medieval Culture at the Polish Academy of Sciences. For the next twenty years he was closely involved in dissident circles in Poland, taking a central role in the founding of the Solidarity trade union in Gdansk in the early 1980s. Professor Geremek still plays an important role in Poland's politics while now continuing his teaching and research both in Warsaw and in Paris.