A sweeping, big-picture view of the bloodiest century in human
history.The 21st is giving the 20th century a run for its money,
but, as prolific historian Ferguson (History/Harvard Univ.;
Colossus, 2004, etc.) notes, the latter is still the
standard-bearer for human savagery, "far more violent in relative
as well as absolute terms than any other previous era." Borrowing a
page from the little-read German historian Oswald Spengler,
Ferguson introduces grand themes in an effort to determine why the
time should have been so murderous even as standards of living were
improving throughout so much of the world. The War of the World
(encompassing the period from before WWI to the end of the Korean
War, about half a century), and particularly its bloodiest phase,
WWII, were, he writes, fueled by several disparate sources, which
"may be summarized as ethnic conflict, economic volatility and
empires in decline." The first helps explain the Holocaust and
Japan's savagery against captive Asian populations; Ferguson
catalogues some of the endlessly inventive ways in which
militarized states and pseudo-states have efficiently slaughtered
their own people before tangling with their neighbors. Having
delineated these far-reaching themes, which he has addressed in
previous work-indeed, this opus is a sort of summary of his work to
date-Ferguson delivers a more or less standard history, little of
which will come as news to readers familiar with the work of, say,
David Reynolds or Paul Johnson. Still, Ferguson writes with an eye
for the telling detail, showing, for instance, that anyone who
professed surprise at the Third Reich's program of expansionism
could not have been paying attention, since Hitler publicly
announced in 1936 that "the German armed forces must be ready for
combat within four years."A lucid, blood-soaked study that will
give no comfort to those pining for peace in our time. (Kirkus
Reviews)
The beginning of the twentieth century saw human civilization at
its most enlightened, well-educated, globalized and wealthy. What
turned it into a bloodbath? Niall Ferguson re-tells the story of
history's most savage century as a continual war that raged for 100
years. From the plains of Poland to the killing fields of Cambodia,
he reveals how economic boom-and-bust, decaying empires and, above
all, poisonous ideas of race led men to treat each other as aliens.
It was an age of hatred that ended with the twilight, not the
triumph, of the West. And, he shows, it could happen all over
again. 'A heartbreaking, serious and thoughtful survey of human
evil that is utterly fascinating and dramatic' Simon Sebag
Montefiore, The New York Times 'Unputdownable, controversial,
compelling' Independent on Sunday 'The grenade lobbed into the cosy
tea party of received wisdom' Max Hastings 'A big, bold and
brilliantly belligerent book' Sunday Telegraph 'History at its most
controversial ... no one can afford to overlook it' Allan Mallinson
'Hums with energy, quotable insights and pithy summaries' Observer
'Gripping' Tristram Hunt
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