About this title: Martin Gilbert, author of the multivolume biography of Winston Churchill and other brilliant works of history, chronicles world events year by year, from the dawn of aviation to the flourishing technology age, taking us through World War I to the inauguration of Franklin Roosevelt as president of the United States and Hider as chancellor of ...
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Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Date Published: 12/17/2002
ISBN-13:9780060505943ISBN:006050594X
Description: Fine. 006050594X Ships next business day. NEW/UNREAD! ! ! Text is Clean and Unmarked! --Be Sure to Compare Seller Feedback and Ratings before Purchasing--Has a small black line on bottom/exterior edge of pages. May have light shelf wear to cover from storage, if any. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Perennial
Date Published: 2002-12-01
ISBN-13:9780060505943ISBN:006050594X
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780060505943. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9780060505943ISBN:006050594X
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Description: New. Martin Gilbert, author of the multivolume biography of Winston Churchill and other brilliant works of history, chronicles world events year by year, from the dawn of aviation to the flourishing technology age, taking us through World War I to the in... read more
"Covering the an entire century in 800 pages necessarily forces a certain selection and brevity. However, read this and you will get a flavor of the last century. It should dispel any romantic notions that it was "the best of times"."
"This is a magnificent overview of the last fifty years of the twentieth century by one of Britain's leading historians.
The book is presented in a strictly chronological style, with each chapter covering a specific calendar year. This approach allows the reader to appreciate the flow of events in the order they occurred rather than encountering them within the context of the writer's subsequent interpretation. Despite this, the book does not read as if it were a series of news reports. The historian does interpret, analyse and sift in order to create a coherent narrative of an extradoridany epoch in world history.
An illustration of the benefit of this approach is, for instance, the story of the collapse of Communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. We encounter these events in the book in a similar way that many of us experienced them in 1990 and 1991 - as unexpected, dramatic and amazing, rather than as the logical outcome of a totalitarian state facing financial collapse.
The author has been careful to include events from across the world - as far as such an overview will permit. We meet politicians in Asia and Africa who we might otherwise ignore and natural disasters that we may have only vaguely remembered but which affected entire nations.
Themes - of course - do emerge. Among the author's favourites are the ravages of war and political violence in history's bloodiest century, advances in technology and health care set against the backdrop of widespread global poverty, the rise of nationalism, tribalism and ethnic conflict and the rise and fall of communism.
The writer's own interests and biases also come through, though not (to me) in an intrusive way. His regular reports on the incidence of road traffic deaths worldwide is important, for instance. His descriptions of the work of the United Nations are interesting and go beyond the traditional focus on its peacekeeping role. The author also appears to have a positive view of British Prime Minister John Major as well as being a friend, not uncritically, of the state of Israel.
Perhaps with the benefit of hindsight, Martin Gilbert could have made more of the growth of radical Islam, which before 9/11 could easily have looked like a side show on the world stage. His analysis of the growth of the environmental movement is often limited to anti-pollution laws passed in the United States and does not appear to have anticipated the major grass roots interest in sustainability that has become a mainstream concern in the first decade of the new century.
These latter issues are minor criticisms, however, in a book that is a treasure of information and analysis. It's extensive index enables the reader to follow discreet topics if one wishes and the book will be of interest to both the general reader and the specialist.
One favourite quote sees the author indulging in just the slightest self-congratulation when describing the events leading up to the first Gulf War. He is quoting President Bush Senior: "In the first few weeks of the crisis, I happened to be reading a book on World War II by the British historian Martin Gilbert. I saw a direct analogy between what was occurring in Kuwait and what the Nazis had done, especially in Poland....I saw a chilling parallel with what the Iraqi occupiers were doing in Kuwait."
I imagined how much fun the author must have had writing that sentence, knowing that his work was influencing world leaders as they pondered major foreign policy responses. One of the spin-offs of being a brilliant historian, I guess."
"This book presents a broad yet concise history from 1900-1933. The first of three books which aim to give scope to the entire twentieth century. It's an ambitious project and I'm sure much can be found in the way of criticism, but it provides invaluable insight and understanding into events of recent history. I found much in here to broaden and deepen my understanding of familiar events, and even more that was completely new to me. I recommend it to anyone with an interest in history, more especially as the events it records still have their repercussions in today's world."
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