At the beginning of his career in the 1960s, he showed great talent and defined his lasting interests in economics, economic history, the history of engineering, and management. He approaches these subjects as a humanist and examines their cultural aspects. Bratkowski is fascinated by the ideas on which material culture is built and the ways in which early and present-day societies have been run. He uses the past to illuminate the present.
Bratkowski is undoubtedly the leading Polish proponent of modernity; he is also regarded as a consistent positivist or pragmatist. As expressed in hundreds of articles, his views consistently centre around the same values and ideas –praise of solid workmanship and economic autonomy and freedom in a spirit of social solidarity. The reform programs and visions of a social-economic order that he formulates are always a subject for heated discussion and an important component of Polish intellectual life. Bratkowski writes with verve and his texts are marked by precision of explanation and exceptional erudition and writing talent.
Bratkowski recently produced two unusually interesting book-length essays. One of them, The Springtime of Europe, is a wide-ranging treatment of the medieval idea of European universalism. Bratkowski highlights the links between medieval issues and the present-day discussion of European integration. He is also fascinated by the figure of Sylvester II, the Pope who sketched a bold vision of a united Christian Europe and was also the foremost scholar of his day. Another of Bratkowski's recent books is also highly original: The Shortest History of Poland, in which he presents the most important events and political processes in Polish history in an accessible form with all the strengths of good oral story-telling. In the work W drodze do Montaigne (Towards Montaigne) published in 2012, Bratkowski conducted an erudite analysis of the French humanist’s, Michel de Montaigne’s, life and work, and one year later, in his essay, Kto na to przyzwolił? (Who Let this Happen?), he dealt with the lessons to be learnt from the bloody legacy of the 20th century’s fascisms.
Source: www.polska2000.pl; copyright: Stowarzyszenie Willa Decjusza; update: AP, July 2019.
Selected Bibliography:
- Świat, w którym żyjemy (The World We Live In). Warsaw: Horyzonty, 1970,
- Z czym do nieśmiertelności (Ways to Immortality). Katowice: Śląsk, 1977,
- Oddalający się kontynent (The Continent that is Becoming More Distant). Warsaw: PIW, 1978,
- Nowy Marsyliusz, czyli społeczeńtwo inteligentne (The New Marcilius, or an Intelligent Society). Warsaw: PIW, 1981,
- Skąd przychodzimy. (Where We Come From). Warsaw: Iskry, 1975; BGW, 1993,
- Jak robić interesy razem (How to do Business Together). Warsaw: Iskry, 1997,
- Wiosna Europy. Mnisi, królowie i wizjonerzy (The Springtime of Europe: Monks, Kings and Visionaries). Warsaw: Iskry, 1997,
- Najkrótsza historia Polski (The Shortest History of Poland). Warsaw: KAW, 1998,
- Pan Nowogród Wielki (Mister Nowogród the Great), Warszawa: Warszawa: KAW, 1999,
- Podróż do nowej przeszłości (A Journey to the New Past), Warsaw: Veda, 2000,
- Nieco inna historia cywilizacji. Dzieje banków, bankierów i obrotu pieniężnego (A Different History of Civilisations: Banks, Bankers and Money Circulation), Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Nowoczesność, 2003,
- Sztafeta 'Z' (The Z Relay), Radom: Instytut Technologii Eksploatacji, 2004,
- Pod tym samym niebem. Krótka historia Żydów w Polsce i stosunków polsko-żydowskich (Under the Same Sky: A Short Story of Jews in Poland and Polish-Jewish Relations), Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Trio, 2006,
- Kilka sposobów na niemożliwość, czyli krótki poradnik dla tych, którzy nie wiedzą, że nic nie da się zrobić (A Few Tricks for Impossibility, or a Short Guide for those who Don't Know that Nothing Can Be Done), Warszawa: Prószyński i S-ka, 2006,
- Kim chcą być Niemcy (Who do the Germans Want to Be), Warszawa: Prószyński i S-ka, 2006,
- Kim chcą być Polacy (Who do the Poles Want to Be), Warszawa: Prószyński i S-ka, 2007,
- Teksty wywrotowe 1992-2008 (Subversive Texts 1992-2008), Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Pert, 2008,
- Atlantyda tak niedaleko (So Close to Atlantis), Wydawnictwo Pert, 2009,
- W drodze do Montaigne (Towards Montaigne), Warszawa: Spółdzielnia Wydawnicza "Czytelnik", 2012,
- Kto na to przyzwolił?: szkic o odpowiedzialności za przyszłą historię (Who Let this Happen?), Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Studio Emka, 2013.