- Historian Dennis Glover puts today’s deep political and social conflicts into a larger perspective.The book is concise, enlightening and detailed, particularly the first part which mainly summarises the two world wars of the 20th century and their sheer ugliness.
- It’s so refreshing to be reminded of what happened politically, economically, and socially in the past, and whether there are similar problems and trends that are causing the same fissures today. Hitler and Stalin then - Putin and Trump now. How the West refused to step in to thwart the Fascist Franco in Spain in the 1930's, how the rise of Hitler was naively misunderstood, and how the abject evil of Stalin was tolerated.
- Glover writes well and very clearly. His macro vision of the last century is full of detail and the horrible statistics of death and destruction. He also examines the criticism and commentary at the time - Keynes valuable insights about the brutal impact on Germany of Versailles, which were ignored, and the insights of George Orwell, Christopher Isherwood and other writers who were also ignored.
- The book is in two parts - the past and the present (Tragedy and Farce). The contest between elitism and populism has re-emerged.
- The problem I have with Glover's thesis is his belief that the two periods are closely aligned. I find that debatable. Are the parallels really that close? The big difference is post-war American dominance and power. For example, he ignores Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, China, Iran. He does outline what is happening today in Israel and Palestine but offers no insights into the conflict's origins.
- Neither does he delve into Ukraine's history and NATO's push eastward despite continual warnings about unnecessarily provoking Russia. His views are simple and without much subtlety. Many commentators think Ukraine should have long ago adopted a position of neutrality like Switzerland.
- So I'm in two minds about this short book, and I may be wrong.
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