Niall Ferguson is one of the world's most renowned historians. He is the author of Paper and Iron, The House of Rothschild, The Pity of War, The Cash Nexus, Empire, Colossus, The War of the World, The Ascent of Money, High Financier, Civilization, The Great Degeneration, Kissinger, 1923-1968: The Idealist, and The Square and the Tower. He is Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and a Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University, Beijing. His many awards include the Benjamin Franklin Prize for Public Service (2010), the Hayek Prize for Lifetime Achievement (2012) and the Ludwig Erhard Prize for Economic Journalism (2013).
"A heartbreaking, serious and thoughtful survey of human evil that
is utterly fascinating and dramatic . . . superb narrative
history." —The New York Times Book Review
"Ferguson's best book, by far, since The Pity of War . . . from
bond markets to the face of battle, he has returned to the themes
of his earlier book and to his strengths." —Paul Kennedy, The
New York Review of Books
"Wielding at once the encyclopedic knowledge of an accomplished
scholar and the engaging prose of a master storyteller, Ferguson
commendably brings fresh insights to a history by now familiar. . .
. A tour de force." —San Francisco Chronicle
"Even those who have read widely in 20th-century history will find
fresh, surprising details." —The Boston Globe
"A fascinating read, thanks to Ferguson's gifts as a writer of
clear, energetic narrative history." —The Washington Post
Why, if life was improving so rapidly for so many people at the dawn of the 20th century, were the next hundred years full of brutal conflict? Ferguson (Colossus) has a relatively simple answer: ethnic unrest is prone to break out during periods of economic volatility-booms as well as busts. When they take place in or near areas of imperial decline or transition, the unrest is more likely to escalate into full-scale conflict. This compelling theory is applicable to the Armenian genocide in Turkey, the slaughter of the Tutsis in Rwanda or the "ethnic cleansing" perpetrated against Bosnians, but the overwhelming majority of Ferguson's analysis is devoted to the two world wars and the fate of the Jews in Germany and eastern Europe. His richly informed analysis overturns many basic assumptions. For example, he argues that England's appeasement of Hitler in 1938 didn't lead to WWII, but was a misinformed response to a war that had started as early as 1935. But with Ferguson's claims about "the descent of the West" and the smaller wars in the latter half of the century tucked away into a comparatively brief epilogue, his thoughtful study falls short of its epic promise. (Sept. 25) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
"A heartbreaking, serious and thoughtful survey of human evil that
is utterly fascinating and dramatic . . . superb narrative
history." -The New York Times Book Review
"Ferguson's best book, by far, since The Pity of War . . .
from bond markets to the face of battle, he has returned to the
themes of his earlier book and to his strengths." -Paul Kennedy,
The New York Review of Books
"Wielding at once the encyclopedic knowledge of an accomplished
scholar and the engaging prose of a master storyteller, Ferguson
commendably brings fresh insights to a history by now familiar. . .
. A tour de force." -San Francisco Chronicle
"Even those who have read widely in 20th-century history will find
fresh, surprising details." -The Boston Globe
"A fascinating read, thanks to Ferguson's gifts as a writer of
clear, energetic narrative history." -The Washington Post
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
