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Repeat: A Warning from History
Are we about to see history repeat?
'Do you ever stop and ask, 'Is it all going to happen again?' —Siegfried Sassoon
We live in an age that seems eerily familiar. A time of dictators, populists, organised lying, European wars, grabs for territory, ideological extremism, and even antisemitism, when things are falling apart and the centre is struggling to hold. It has all happened before, in the 1920s and '30s. History is sending us a warning, and unless we heed it, history will have its revenge by making us repeat the disaster of the 1940s.
The world needs to learn the lessons of the 1920s and '30s, and fast. Dennis Glover retells the story of the inter-war years in a series of lessons drawn from unfolding events and the unheeded omens of those who spoke out but were ignored.
An urgent, surprising and altogether persuasive read, A Warning from History will open your eyes.
'Like Orwell, of whom he has written so brilliantly, Dennis Glover's work is charged with courage, intelligence and purpose. He is the complete writer, and one made for our times.' —Don Watson
'Do you ever stop and ask, 'Is it all going to happen again?' —Siegfried Sassoon
We live in an age that seems eerily familiar. A time of dictators, populists, organised lying, European wars, grabs for territory, ideological extremism, and even antisemitism, when things are falling apart and the centre is struggling to hold. It has all happened before, in the 1920s and '30s. History is sending us a warning, and unless we heed it, history will have its revenge by making us repeat the disaster of the 1940s.
The world needs to learn the lessons of the 1920s and '30s, and fast. Dennis Glover retells the story of the inter-war years in a series of lessons drawn from unfolding events and the unheeded omens of those who spoke out but were ignored.
An urgent, surprising and altogether persuasive read, A Warning from History will open your eyes.
'Like Orwell, of whom he has written so brilliantly, Dennis Glover's work is charged with courage, intelligence and purpose. He is the complete writer, and one made for our times.' —Don Watson
132 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 5, 2024
37 people are currently reading
165 people want to read
About the author
Dennis Glover
17 books22 followersDennis Glover was educated at Monash and Cambridge universities and he has made a career as one of Australia's leading speechwriters and political commentators. His first novel, The Last Man in Europe, was published around the world in multiple editions and was nominated for several literary prizes, including the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. His second novel, Factory 19, was published in 2020, and his newest novel, Thaw, is forthcoming.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
March 29, 2025
A dear friend of mine asked me to read this to see if she should bother. So, I did. Look, I think the best thing about this book is that it gives a quick and yet quite good introduction to Nazi Germany and Stalinist Soviet Union and the problems of both. Where it is less successful, I think, is in the idea it is trying to establish – that is, that we are living through a direct repeat of those times. That old saying that history doesn’t repeat, but it rhymes kept ringing in my ears throughout this.
This is what I wrote to her:
Personally, I would recommend Paxton's The Anatomy of Fascism over this - but it is longer. I was a little annoyed that he only mentioned Gaza in the very last pages and didn't explain how Israel is becoming increasingly authoritarian, but we live under the myth that it is the only democracy in the Middle East, and this does nothing to counter that view. The discussion on Russia and Putin is pretty much the standard western view - a much better explanation of this is provided in Short's - Putin: His life and times - infinitely more nuanced. Not least in pointing out the Putin actually wants to make Russia a 'European nation' - something that goes against the thesis in this book. Also, the Paxton book makes it clear that there are very real differences between fascism in the 1930s and what we are witnessing now - not least that those ideologies were driven by very clear ideas - whereas those today generally are not. That is, they are more about justifying the gross inequalities we are living under, rather than just being about the superiority of the white race or other such nonsense. Such differences might not seem important - but I think they ultimately might be.
Like I said, this one is probably best for its thumbnails of the history of Spain and Germany. But thumbnails have their problems. It is also a very quick read. But it is also quite ideological, in that it takes for granted a number of things about western democracies that have rarely, if ever, been true. Still, I've read worse - and like I've said over and over, it's short and covers a lot of ground.
The only thing I would add is that the author sees most of what we are doing at the moment as appeasement. I worry about this line of thinking, and it is also why the idea of ‘repeating’ troubles me. I worry that the only way of not appeasing is to start a nuclear war – which seems, to say the least, somewhat self-defeating. Anyway, it is what it is.
This is what I wrote to her:
Personally, I would recommend Paxton's The Anatomy of Fascism over this - but it is longer. I was a little annoyed that he only mentioned Gaza in the very last pages and didn't explain how Israel is becoming increasingly authoritarian, but we live under the myth that it is the only democracy in the Middle East, and this does nothing to counter that view. The discussion on Russia and Putin is pretty much the standard western view - a much better explanation of this is provided in Short's - Putin: His life and times - infinitely more nuanced. Not least in pointing out the Putin actually wants to make Russia a 'European nation' - something that goes against the thesis in this book. Also, the Paxton book makes it clear that there are very real differences between fascism in the 1930s and what we are witnessing now - not least that those ideologies were driven by very clear ideas - whereas those today generally are not. That is, they are more about justifying the gross inequalities we are living under, rather than just being about the superiority of the white race or other such nonsense. Such differences might not seem important - but I think they ultimately might be.
Like I said, this one is probably best for its thumbnails of the history of Spain and Germany. But thumbnails have their problems. It is also a very quick read. But it is also quite ideological, in that it takes for granted a number of things about western democracies that have rarely, if ever, been true. Still, I've read worse - and like I've said over and over, it's short and covers a lot of ground.
The only thing I would add is that the author sees most of what we are doing at the moment as appeasement. I worry about this line of thinking, and it is also why the idea of ‘repeating’ troubles me. I worry that the only way of not appeasing is to start a nuclear war – which seems, to say the least, somewhat self-defeating. Anyway, it is what it is.
August 27, 2024
Over 50 years on, I can still remember my old teacher drumming into me : “history repeats itself”. He was mainly referencing Napoleon and Hitler but Dennis Glover’s book is a salient reminder that we shouldn’t get complacent.
“Repeat” is only a short book but fairly wide in its 20th/21st century scope : I learned quite a bit about the Spanish Civil War and, consequently, its scary parallels with Ukraine.
Particularly telling was his reference – near the end of the book – to the folly of believing that old black and white footage makes the past so different.
In summary, I did love the line : “their response is primordial, like sheep bleating in the presence of a wolf claiming to protect them”. No prizes for guessing which 21st century figure he’s referring to!
“Repeat” is only a short book but fairly wide in its 20th/21st century scope : I learned quite a bit about the Spanish Civil War and, consequently, its scary parallels with Ukraine.
Particularly telling was his reference – near the end of the book – to the folly of believing that old black and white footage makes the past so different.
In summary, I did love the line : “their response is primordial, like sheep bleating in the presence of a wolf claiming to protect them”. No prizes for guessing which 21st century figure he’s referring to!
August 27, 2024
Terse, well-researched, timely, sobering and unashamedly polemical, this book is a must read.
September 4, 2024
1920s.
Bad economics lead to widespread hardship (and the increasing wealth of a few). Hardship leads to the rise of Populist leaders. Populism leads to insurrection events that are treated as aberrations and thus not adequately snuffed out. Emboldened, the Populist makes a few incremental forays that are ignored or receive a slap on the wrist. Thus empowered by success and validated by inadequate responses, the Populist embarks on eliminating opponents (a bullet in the back of the head).
Finally, we hear “Enough” from those who were slow to respond. And we have war.
As it was in the 1920s and ‘30s, so it has been since the 1990s. Those who fail to learn from history will be forced to repeat it.
Bad economics lead to widespread hardship (and the increasing wealth of a few). Hardship leads to the rise of Populist leaders. Populism leads to insurrection events that are treated as aberrations and thus not adequately snuffed out. Emboldened, the Populist makes a few incremental forays that are ignored or receive a slap on the wrist. Thus empowered by success and validated by inadequate responses, the Populist embarks on eliminating opponents (a bullet in the back of the head).
Finally, we hear “Enough” from those who were slow to respond. And we have war.
As it was in the 1920s and ‘30s, so it has been since the 1990s. Those who fail to learn from history will be forced to repeat it.
October 26, 2025
A short book targeting how the horrors of history will repeat itself if we remain blind to the lessons of the past.
History repeating (or rhyming) is an interesting window into human behaviour. Earlier this year I enjoyed The Storm Before the Storm, which covers the Roman Republic going through the cyclical nature of politics and populism, hitting similar beats to what was attempted in this book. Although a very intriguing concept, a lot of this book fell flat for me as I believe the author’s “urgency to get it to the people (they must know!)” to be an insufficient reason to release a rushed book.
I never understood who the intended audience was meant to be. I liked moving through history and recognising the common strategies for modern day tyranny, but could not escape the authors bias as he combines his own political views into his guide to history. As only those who already agree with the authors views would read this book, I was left feeling confused as to what message he was trying to communicate.
The voice of the author comes off the page as a town crier. As no information is sourced, there is a constant feeling I am on the receiving end of a rambling professor. With each event, the facts and author inferences are presented equally, so I cannot tell which parts are reliable.
I felt the graphic descriptions of murder and executions to be a cheap way to build emotional weight for the reader. A book covering the dangers of populism while also drumming up how I should be angry at all the death doesn’t make sense.
History repeating (or rhyming) is an interesting window into human behaviour. Earlier this year I enjoyed The Storm Before the Storm, which covers the Roman Republic going through the cyclical nature of politics and populism, hitting similar beats to what was attempted in this book. Although a very intriguing concept, a lot of this book fell flat for me as I believe the author’s “urgency to get it to the people (they must know!)” to be an insufficient reason to release a rushed book.
I never understood who the intended audience was meant to be. I liked moving through history and recognising the common strategies for modern day tyranny, but could not escape the authors bias as he combines his own political views into his guide to history. As only those who already agree with the authors views would read this book, I was left feeling confused as to what message he was trying to communicate.
The voice of the author comes off the page as a town crier. As no information is sourced, there is a constant feeling I am on the receiving end of a rambling professor. With each event, the facts and author inferences are presented equally, so I cannot tell which parts are reliable.
I felt the graphic descriptions of murder and executions to be a cheap way to build emotional weight for the reader. A book covering the dangers of populism while also drumming up how I should be angry at all the death doesn’t make sense.
August 1, 2025
I’m sitting here wondering what I’ve done with my time.
Simply speaking, I just found this too short - I understand that the length is a very intentional choice from Glover, he wants a book that’s quick to flick through and easy to digest. The thing is, I think this does a disservice to its thesis statement.
History is repeating itself sure, but I was hoping for more analysis, and I was hoping for some more of a point from this book beyond sounding the alarm. I think anyone who is paying attention, anyone who would be reading this book, already knows this.
So the question becomes, who’s your audience, and what’s the point you’re trying to make?
When you’re rattling off historical events and framing them against modern events, there really should be analysis, a sense of action and direction - beyond George Orwell. Someone engaging with this text is already informed, already cares, and is already engaged. Why tell someone how to suck eggs?
With this in mind, this was rather a miserable read, not from the topic (although, the topic is miserable in and of itself), but in the way that this felt purposeless. I just truly don’t know what to make of this.
Simply speaking, I just found this too short - I understand that the length is a very intentional choice from Glover, he wants a book that’s quick to flick through and easy to digest. The thing is, I think this does a disservice to its thesis statement.
History is repeating itself sure, but I was hoping for more analysis, and I was hoping for some more of a point from this book beyond sounding the alarm. I think anyone who is paying attention, anyone who would be reading this book, already knows this.
So the question becomes, who’s your audience, and what’s the point you’re trying to make?
When you’re rattling off historical events and framing them against modern events, there really should be analysis, a sense of action and direction - beyond George Orwell. Someone engaging with this text is already informed, already cares, and is already engaged. Why tell someone how to suck eggs?
With this in mind, this was rather a miserable read, not from the topic (although, the topic is miserable in and of itself), but in the way that this felt purposeless. I just truly don’t know what to make of this.
July 4, 2025
An astonishing book a not because he has created any new ideas, simply because he has distilled approx one hundred years of history & the parallels today into a short, easy to read text. Scarily, some of the moments in history have new parallels (occurring after this book was published). However, I’m curious to hear what he’d say about the fascist Netanyahu & the IDF considering what continues to happen in Gaza. The October attacks were abhorrent, and could at a stretch be classified antisemitic; however, to do so is simplistic & ignores so much of history. And Glover’s predominant thesis is that we need historical knowledge in order to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. He places a great deal of responsibility on the shoulders of economists ( great inequality prepares the soil for the poisonous posturings of populists), but also on the mainstream - laughing at the ridiculousness of ranting & rambling Trump, or the homoerotic hyper masculinity of Putin only feeds their base’s sense of otherness. To ignore the environment that breeds fascism is to imperil us all.
August 31, 2024
Whether you are an advocate for history repeating or whether you are of the view that it rhymes, you neglect its lessons at your peril.
And its lessons, as we grapple with the era of Trump, Putin and other far-right populist and nationalist despots, are relatively recent.
That’s one of the key messages of this brief but cogent tract by speechwriter Denis Glover who draws on the history of he the great monsters of the 20th century - Hitler and Stalin in particular - to issue a warning about what we face today.
“As we look at the world today, it’s not hard to be terrified,” Glover writes.
“Not long ago, thanks to those who won the Second World War and then had the foresight to bring stability and calmness to the world, we thought the savage, murderous era of the populists was over, never to return. Now that era is coming back. Armed with the insights of history, we have it in our power to stop the populists from destroying our world once again.“
And its lessons, as we grapple with the era of Trump, Putin and other far-right populist and nationalist despots, are relatively recent.
That’s one of the key messages of this brief but cogent tract by speechwriter Denis Glover who draws on the history of he the great monsters of the 20th century - Hitler and Stalin in particular - to issue a warning about what we face today.
“As we look at the world today, it’s not hard to be terrified,” Glover writes.
“Not long ago, thanks to those who won the Second World War and then had the foresight to bring stability and calmness to the world, we thought the savage, murderous era of the populists was over, never to return. Now that era is coming back. Armed with the insights of history, we have it in our power to stop the populists from destroying our world once again.“
November 18, 2024
An excellent overview of the parallels between the 1920s-30s and today, at times quite insightful. But I am not persuaded by Glover’s claim that the rise of populism can be prevented by merely blunting the impact of capitalism. The neo-liberalism that Glover holds responsible for populism’s return is not a corruption of capitalism, but its purest expression. The exploitation and artificial creation of wealth that neo-liberalism enables is simply the essence of capitalism, and I am not convinced merely redistributing wealth - that is to say, wealth that has been spread unequally in the first place - is a sufficient response. Perhaps it should not be expropriated in the first place?
February 9, 2025
First half is an accessible history of 20th century autocrats, what gave rise to them, and what happened under their rule, including Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, and Franco.
Second half summarises the return of the populists in the present decade, what caused the movement, and their attacks on democracy, highlighting the parallels to those of last century.
It briefly covers inequality, censorship, propaganda, political persecution, and war.
The book is pertinent, and a really quick read for those who want to fill in gaps in their knowledge of modern history, as well as readers who want to appreciate the significance of what's currently happening around the world.
Second half summarises the return of the populists in the present decade, what caused the movement, and their attacks on democracy, highlighting the parallels to those of last century.
It briefly covers inequality, censorship, propaganda, political persecution, and war.
The book is pertinent, and a really quick read for those who want to fill in gaps in their knowledge of modern history, as well as readers who want to appreciate the significance of what's currently happening around the world.
May 22, 2025
Concise, well reasoned and quite compelling, this book takes us into the past and then draws the clear correlations between then and now. The author explains how the world got into trouble then - economic inequity, the rise of fascists and populist leaders, lack of action by western democracies, war - and then looks at recent global events to ask the question … are we repeating past mistakes? Can we look back on the 1920s and 30s and see that we are following the same slippery slope now? Is it too late to act and reverse these trends? A very thoughtful read.
September 21, 2024
A very timely book. Sounds a warning that the times we are living through now are very similar to the 1930s when the economy was failing, living standards for the poorer sections of society were falling, populism and fascism and racism were on the rise, and dictatorships were pushing their boundaries and democracies were letting them get away with murder (literally and figuratively). In the 1930s it resulted in world war 2. Are we heading for world war 3?
September 27, 2024
This short book is cracking good but also frightening as it compares the patterns across the post Spanish flu period (from WW1 to WW2) with events happening around the globe currently. Elegantly written. If only we would recognise the warning.
August 7, 2025
This is some scary shit. I’m definitely guilty of the whole, “They’re trying to incite fear. We’ll never actually get to ‘that point’ again,” which made this all the more sobering.
Time to ditch that narrative and focus on spreading the truth.
Time to ditch that narrative and focus on spreading the truth.
September 24, 2024
Frightening, factual and fascinating!!!
October 2, 2024
Prescient, definitely worth a read
November 5, 2024
Everyone needs to read this as soon as humanly possible! So important
November 18, 2024
Inspiring, a clear and concise retelling of history and the perils that face us in the future...
December 31, 2024
Chilling! I recommend that Mr. Glover doesn’t set foot in Russia anytime soon.
January 3, 2025
read it.
April 30, 2025
Remarkable book, but terrifying. History does seem to repeating itself- just why is very simply explained by the author.
September 16, 2025
Dennis Glover in Repeat asserts history is repeating - right now. He compares the economic and social environments that give to populist dictators and war. He covers grounds from the past - Mousellini, Hitler, Stalin - to modern counterparts - Putin, Hamas, Trump, to name a few.
The mass of the book offers a WWII guide. I found this beneficial as I know little of modern history, but Glover goes beyond a recant. He guides our thinking on modern political tensions particularly on the current (as of publishing) US 2024 election.
As Glover extensively warned against voting in Trump, and yet he was elected, it may feel purposeless to read Repeat. But the overarching advice stands tall in his conclusion, which I recommend you read regardless of your interests in the topic (or political stance). I would love to know your thoughts on this.
“If we recognise destructive patterns as they begin to repeat, we can act decisively to avoid them.”
The mass of the book offers a WWII guide. I found this beneficial as I know little of modern history, but Glover goes beyond a recant. He guides our thinking on modern political tensions particularly on the current (as of publishing) US 2024 election.
As Glover extensively warned against voting in Trump, and yet he was elected, it may feel purposeless to read Repeat. But the overarching advice stands tall in his conclusion, which I recommend you read regardless of your interests in the topic (or political stance). I would love to know your thoughts on this.
“If we recognise destructive patterns as they begin to repeat, we can act decisively to avoid them.”
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews