History of the Twentieth Century by Martin Gilbert
What a terrible disappointment the twentieth century has been, was Winston Churchills comment in 1922. One world war was over, more than 6 million soldiers had been killed, and four vast empires had been destroyed. A second mass slaughterin which more than 46 million would diewas yet to come, bringing in its wake the arms race, the Cold War, and the nuclear age. This volume of Martin Gilberts three-volume narrative history of the century charts its first thirty-three years. Opening in the age of horse-drawn travel and colonial wars, Gilbert closes this volume with Roosevelt as the newly elected President of the United States, the inauguration of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany, and the first of Stalins show trials in the Soviet Union. As well as chronicling the wars, revolutions, and political upheavals, Gilbert tells the story of ordinary men and women in every continent, making them an integral part of the events of which they were sometimes the beneficiaries and often the victims. Editorial Reviews Review How should one do justice to this first installment of a history that will, when completed in a few years, come to at least three volumes and probably close to 3,000 pages?... Does it enhance the enterprise to acknowledge that Sir Martin Gilbert is one of the most prodigious of contemporary historians, with a sprawling knowledge of Asia and Europe, who has earlier recorded almost day by day the life of Winston Churchill and has written sweeping and touching volumes on the world wars, the Holocaust and related Jewish themes? -- The New York Times Book Review, Charles S. Maier --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From Kirkus Reviews After writing more than 50 books, the eminent British historian, knighted in 1995, could be excused for feeling tired, and this first volume of his history of the 20th century shows it. One of the problems is that he has chosen to cover the period year by year, with the result that, like a butterfly, he alights briefly on one country before winging his way to the next. This tends to interrupt the flow of the narrative and the development of any themes. The only exception is where he describes the First World War, on which he has already written much, and where the inherent drama of the events imposes its own theme. Another problem lies in a lack of freshness in the writing: the ever-changing, ever-renewing drama on the world stage. . . . Everywhere mankind strove, and continues to strive for that better tomorrow.'' A further problem, most unexpected in a historian of Gilbert's accomplishment, is his use of sources. For example, although he describes it as a patriotic volume published annually,'' he quotes Cassell's Illustrated History of England at length and almost uncritically: Never was there a touch of nature that made the whole world more kin than the death of her Majesty the Queen of England.'' The First World War dominates the period, occupying a quarter of the book, but Gilbert gives little indication of why statesmen, with few exceptions (Churchill in England, Count Tisza in Austria-Hungary), were so blind to its potential consequences and why the peoples of Europe greeted the declaration of war with such enthusiasm. The good bits tend to suggest Trivial Pursuits'': In 1906, for example, Coca-Cola replaced the cocaine in its drink with caffeine, and Lindbergh's achievements finally convinced the American people that the airplane was safe. Churchill, whose biographer Gilbert is, would have called this volume a themeless pudding.'' (24 pages b&w photos, not seen) (Author tour) -- Copyright ®1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. About the Author Martin Gilbert is Winston Churchill's biographer and the author of eight acclaimed books on the Holocaust. He lives in London. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Binding: Hardcover
Published by: Morrow: , 2001
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ISBN: 9780002158701 | 0002158701
783 pages.
Book Condition: Very Good
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