What do you think?
Rate this book
The Fear and the Freedom: How the Second World War Changed Us
Bestselling historian Keith Lowe's The Fear and the Freedom looks at the astonishing innovations that sprang from WWII and how they changed the world.
The Fear and the Freedom is Keith Lowe's follow-up to Savage Continent. While that book painted a picture of Europe in all its horror as WWII was ending, The Fear and the Freedom looks at all that has happened since, focusing on the changes that were brought about because of WWII--simultaneously one of the most catastrophic and most innovative events in history. It killed millions and eradicated empires, creating the idea of human rights, and giving birth to the UN. It was because of the war that penicillin was first mass-produced, computers were developed, and rockets first sent to the edge of space. The war created new philosophies, new ways of living, new architecture: this was the era of Le Corbusier, Simone de Beauvoir and Chairman Mao.
But amidst the waves of revolution and idealism there were also fears of globalization, a dread of the atom bomb, and an unexpressed longing for a past forever gone. All of these things and more came about as direct consequences of the war and continue to affect the world that we live in today. The Fear and the Freedom is the first book to look at all of the changes brought about because of WWII. Based on research from five continents, Keith Lowe's The Fear and the Freedom tells the very human story of how the war not only transformed our world but also changed the very way we think about ourselves.
The Fear and the Freedom is Keith Lowe's follow-up to Savage Continent. While that book painted a picture of Europe in all its horror as WWII was ending, The Fear and the Freedom looks at all that has happened since, focusing on the changes that were brought about because of WWII--simultaneously one of the most catastrophic and most innovative events in history. It killed millions and eradicated empires, creating the idea of human rights, and giving birth to the UN. It was because of the war that penicillin was first mass-produced, computers were developed, and rockets first sent to the edge of space. The war created new philosophies, new ways of living, new architecture: this was the era of Le Corbusier, Simone de Beauvoir and Chairman Mao.
But amidst the waves of revolution and idealism there were also fears of globalization, a dread of the atom bomb, and an unexpressed longing for a past forever gone. All of these things and more came about as direct consequences of the war and continue to affect the world that we live in today. The Fear and the Freedom is the first book to look at all of the changes brought about because of WWII. Based on research from five continents, Keith Lowe's The Fear and the Freedom tells the very human story of how the war not only transformed our world but also changed the very way we think about ourselves.
576 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2017
112 people are currently reading
1902 people want to read
About the author
Keith Lowe
23 books183 followersKeith Lowe is the author of numerous books, including two novels and the critically acclaimed history Inferno: The Fiery Devastation of Hamburg, 1943. He is widely recognized as an authority on the Second World War, and has often spoken on TV and radio, both in Britain and the United States. Most recently he was an historical consultant and one of the main speakers in the PBS documentary The Bombing of Germany which was also broadcast in Germany. His books have been translated into several languages, and he has also lectured in Britain, Canada and Germany. He lives in North London with his wife and two kids.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/keithlowe
http://us.macmillan.com/author/keithlowe
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
August 7, 2022
4.5*
This was a very good reading. I love the author's ability to see a topic from various angles, especially contradictory points of view. This way I felt he was informing better the reader to draw his own conclusions, and Lowe does this in a clear and easy to follow manner. Definitely will be reading more from the author's books.
The book is full of a lot of interesting events that were somehow related to the WW2. Lowe is advocating that monsters (i.e. the Nazis) are not monsters, but rather average people like you and me that just listen to orders and sincerely believe in their cause. Also, we all refer to and kind of martyrize the Jews as the world most know victims of war via numerous movies and books on the subject. But the author is acknowledging that although Jews were probably many in terms of numbers of dead people, there were also other peoples that registered many genocide causalities (e.g. Rwanda, Armenia, South Korea).
On a positive note, many cities that were totally bombarded after the war (Warsaw, Hamburg) were rebuilt with modern materials and looks by enthusiastic architects. This also lead to the having more efficient housing space, via apartment buildings. Americans, Canada, Australia and South Africa were not very affected by the war, therefore, they could speed up their economic growth as compared to countries like Germany, Japan, France, the Netherlands, Greece and UK, which were deeply hurt by the war. A wave of hyperinflation devastated most of the East European countries. But also many European colonies begun the fight for their independence: Indonesia, India, Vietnam to name a few.
Other side effects of the war are traumas and phycological issues, translated most of the times in drinking problems and increased violence. Women entered work force, and there was a general decrease of the age for marriage and the baby boom. This was coupled with the expulsion of minority peoples in Easter Europe and inverse colonization, with citizens of the former colonies migrating to the Western World.
"... the Second World War was 'one of the greatest events in world history, which dealt the irreparable blow to the capital system, instigated the national liberation struggles, marked the decline of colonialism and created a new ratio of forces in favour of socialism and revolution'. Despite its vast legacy of death and destruction, the war was never mourned by the Communists it brought to power; rather it was celebrated as the force that had ushered in a brave new world."
This was a very good reading. I love the author's ability to see a topic from various angles, especially contradictory points of view. This way I felt he was informing better the reader to draw his own conclusions, and Lowe does this in a clear and easy to follow manner. Definitely will be reading more from the author's books.
The book is full of a lot of interesting events that were somehow related to the WW2. Lowe is advocating that monsters (i.e. the Nazis) are not monsters, but rather average people like you and me that just listen to orders and sincerely believe in their cause. Also, we all refer to and kind of martyrize the Jews as the world most know victims of war via numerous movies and books on the subject. But the author is acknowledging that although Jews were probably many in terms of numbers of dead people, there were also other peoples that registered many genocide causalities (e.g. Rwanda, Armenia, South Korea).
On a positive note, many cities that were totally bombarded after the war (Warsaw, Hamburg) were rebuilt with modern materials and looks by enthusiastic architects. This also lead to the having more efficient housing space, via apartment buildings. Americans, Canada, Australia and South Africa were not very affected by the war, therefore, they could speed up their economic growth as compared to countries like Germany, Japan, France, the Netherlands, Greece and UK, which were deeply hurt by the war. A wave of hyperinflation devastated most of the East European countries. But also many European colonies begun the fight for their independence: Indonesia, India, Vietnam to name a few.
Other side effects of the war are traumas and phycological issues, translated most of the times in drinking problems and increased violence. Women entered work force, and there was a general decrease of the age for marriage and the baby boom. This was coupled with the expulsion of minority peoples in Easter Europe and inverse colonization, with citizens of the former colonies migrating to the Western World.
"... the Second World War was 'one of the greatest events in world history, which dealt the irreparable blow to the capital system, instigated the national liberation struggles, marked the decline of colonialism and created a new ratio of forces in favour of socialism and revolution'. Despite its vast legacy of death and destruction, the war was never mourned by the Communists it brought to power; rather it was celebrated as the force that had ushered in a brave new world."
February 25, 2018
I was drawn to read this after previously having read Keith Lowe’s superb book “Savage Continent”, about Europe during the years 1945-50. It was an absolute eye-opener for me. “The Fear and the Freedom” is an ambitious book, and one that is exhaustively researched (taken together the bibliography and references take up 98 pages). I personally found it a bit patchy, and my rating would be 3.5 stars. I prefer to round up rather than down.
In the Introduction, the author explains that he intends the book to be “at least a little bit challenging” and that he thinks it is important that people are open to challenge. It’s an argument I agree with, but I imagine there will be people who would be challenged by some of the content. Historical conflicts, and the actions of individuals, are generally presented here in shades of grey, which might be difficult for those who like their history divided into heroes and villains.
The scope of the book is so huge that it’s very difficult to summarise succinctly. It sets out the author’s views of the forces and trends that were either unleashed or accelerated by WWII. These include the psychological and economic effects of the War; the Cold War; decolonisation and nationalism; international law and governance; equality, human rights and “freedom”; science; architecture; and globalisation. The author introduces each theme with an individual whose life story illustrates the subject.
Over such a wide range of subjects the interest of the general reader will almost inevitably wax and wane. For me the most interesting chapters were on the economic effects, on globalisation, and the individual chapters on Indonesia and Israel. There are thought provoking sections throughout, but I would have to say that I found much of the book a slow read, hence the rating.
In the Introduction, the author explains that he intends the book to be “at least a little bit challenging” and that he thinks it is important that people are open to challenge. It’s an argument I agree with, but I imagine there will be people who would be challenged by some of the content. Historical conflicts, and the actions of individuals, are generally presented here in shades of grey, which might be difficult for those who like their history divided into heroes and villains.
The scope of the book is so huge that it’s very difficult to summarise succinctly. It sets out the author’s views of the forces and trends that were either unleashed or accelerated by WWII. These include the psychological and economic effects of the War; the Cold War; decolonisation and nationalism; international law and governance; equality, human rights and “freedom”; science; architecture; and globalisation. The author introduces each theme with an individual whose life story illustrates the subject.
Over such a wide range of subjects the interest of the general reader will almost inevitably wax and wane. For me the most interesting chapters were on the economic effects, on globalisation, and the individual chapters on Indonesia and Israel. There are thought provoking sections throughout, but I would have to say that I found much of the book a slow read, hence the rating.
March 11, 2023
Продолжение "Дикарского континента" начинается с душераздирающей цитаты:
‘I never really belonged anywhere. If I’m in England I still consider myself a refugee. Even now I’m asked where I come from – I have to say to some of them that I’ve been here longer than they’ve been alive. But when I’m in Vienna I don’t feel any more like an Austrian. I feel a stranger. A sense of belonging has gone.’
Вся книга именно об этом - о травме и освобождении войны, о перемещенности, о беженстве. Самое нужное чтение сейчас, потому что мы проходим именно по этой странной тропе. Быть везде чужими для нас - новая норма, даже (а то и особенно) в стране происхождения. Это непрекращающееся бардо, с какой стороны ни взгляни. А урок для нас нынешних, видимо, в том, что некоторая надежда на послевоенье у нас все-таки возможна, хоть она будет нестойка и недолговечна.
К тому же, это продолжение описания Пинчон-мира, каким мы его постигаем по его романам, - не только послевоенная Зона в Европе, но, в общем, весь ХХ век, с его победобесием (в т.ч.). И заодно прекрасный очерк мировой истории второй половины 20го - самого начала этого века.
Здесь он много любопытного подмечает и систематизирует: например, как по ходу лет христианизовался миф о Холокосте. ...Вообще с мифами Второй мировой он много работает: почему они уже не нужны, а люди за них цепляются с УДЛП, и что из этого получается (подсказка: ничего хорошего, смотрим на войну т.н. "русского народа" с Украиной). Вот приводимое свидетельство:
The Soviet author Emmanuil Kazakevich tells the story of a scene he witnessed in his local bar on the fifth anniversary of VE Day in 1950. ‘Two invalids and a plumber … were drinking beer and reminiscing about the war. One of them wept and said: If there were another war, I would go …’
Вот они и дождались, твари хтонические. Русские же просто не могут без войны, она придает им смысл, как мы сейчас видим. Дикари по-прежнему. К Фромму и его анализу нацистского общества наш автор апеллирут неспроста: "свобода это рабство" - не Оруэлл, а Фромм. Кроме того, целая глава посвящена тому, что совецкое имперское руководство никогда не чувствовало себя в безопасности; такими же паранояльными лаптями оно и остается по сию пору. "Свобода", кстати, в послевоенном понимании - это не свобода, а просто реструктуризация власти, поэтому т.н. "народу" и нужна "сильная рука", которую он обожает лизать до того, что готов поддерживать и "некрополитическую" войну.
Но, например, рапсодизируя насчет "united effort" и сотрудничества всех со всеми во Второй мировой во имя победы над нацизмом и т.д., что, несомненно, прекрасно и породило много дальнейших иллюзий, на он как-то обходит вниманием тот оттенок, что весь мир и все сословья в нем дружили не просто так, а _против_ кого-то (та же история, что и с определением нации как "воображаемого сообщества" только через отрицание). А так просто объединять усилия люди Земли нипочем бы не собрались. Так что надежда, о которой я упомянул выше, есть на то, что народы мира и сейчас хотя бы на некоторое время сдружатся - только уже против русского нацизма. Обижаться же за то, что россию опять не берут играть во всемирную историю, не следует, конечно: она сама себя из нее эффективно вычеркнула не раз. Ну и "национальное государство - враг свободы", как известно.
А вообще английские историки (Лоу да Мэзауэр сейчас) - мои личные герои, примерно так и нужно сейчас осмыслять ХХ век: спокойно, глубоко, независимо, вдумчиво и систематически. Как ни странно, немногие на это способны.
‘I never really belonged anywhere. If I’m in England I still consider myself a refugee. Even now I’m asked where I come from – I have to say to some of them that I’ve been here longer than they’ve been alive. But when I’m in Vienna I don’t feel any more like an Austrian. I feel a stranger. A sense of belonging has gone.’
Вся книга именно об этом - о травме и освобождении войны, о перемещенности, о беженстве. Самое нужное чтение сейчас, потому что мы проходим именно по этой странной тропе. Быть везде чужими для нас - новая норма, даже (а то и особенно) в стране происхождения. Это непрекращающееся бардо, с какой стороны ни взгляни. А урок для нас нынешних, видимо, в том, что некоторая надежда на послевоенье у нас все-таки возможна, хоть она будет нестойка и недолговечна.
К тому же, это продолжение описания Пинчон-мира, каким мы его постигаем по его романам, - не только послевоенная Зона в Европе, но, в общем, весь ХХ век, с его победобесием (в т.ч.). И заодно прекрасный очерк мировой истории второй половины 20го - самого начала этого века.
Здесь он много любопытного подмечает и систематизирует: например, как по ходу лет христианизовался миф о Холокосте. ...Вообще с мифами Второй мировой он много работает: почему они уже не нужны, а люди за них цепляются с УДЛП, и что из этого получается (подсказка: ничего хорошего, смотрим на войну т.н. "русского народа" с Украиной). Вот приводимое свидетельство:
The Soviet author Emmanuil Kazakevich tells the story of a scene he witnessed in his local bar on the fifth anniversary of VE Day in 1950. ‘Two invalids and a plumber … were drinking beer and reminiscing about the war. One of them wept and said: If there were another war, I would go …’
Вот они и дождались, твари хтонические. Русские же просто не могут без войны, она придает им смысл, как мы сейчас видим. Дикари по-прежнему. К Фромму и его анализу нацистского общества наш автор апеллирут неспроста: "свобода это рабство" - не Оруэлл, а Фромм. Кроме того, целая глава посвящена тому, что совецкое имперское руководство никогда не чувствовало себя в безопасности; такими же паранояльными лаптями оно и остается по сию пору. "Свобода", кстати, в послевоенном понимании - это не свобода, а просто реструктуризация власти, поэтому т.н. "народу" и нужна "сильная рука", которую он обожает лизать до того, что готов поддерживать и "некрополитическую" войну.
Но, например, рапсодизируя насчет "united effort" и сотрудничества всех со всеми во Второй мировой во имя победы над нацизмом и т.д., что, несомненно, прекрасно и породило много дальнейших иллюзий, на он как-то обходит вниманием тот оттенок, что весь мир и все сословья в нем дружили не просто так, а _против_ кого-то (та же история, что и с определением нации как "воображаемого сообщества" только через отрицание). А так просто объединять усилия люди Земли нипочем бы не собрались. Так что надежда, о которой я упомянул выше, есть на то, что народы мира и сейчас хотя бы на некоторое время сдружатся - только уже против русского нацизма. Обижаться же за то, что россию опять не берут играть во всемирную историю, не следует, конечно: она сама себя из нее эффективно вычеркнула не раз. Ну и "национальное государство - враг свободы", как известно.
А вообще английские историки (Лоу да Мэзауэр сейчас) - мои личные герои, примерно так и нужно сейчас осмыслять ХХ век: спокойно, глубоко, независимо, вдумчиво и систематически. Как ни странно, немногие на это способны.
October 24, 2017
I really enjoyed Keith Lowe’s approach to the subject matter covered throughout this book, i.e. myths, utopia, superpowers, trauma (this just names a few of the many topics that are examined and explored throughout this thought-provoking work). I found the use of personal narratives within each chapter a great way to draw the reader into the history of the event. The personal stories each offer new, unexplored, and/or additional information about particular topics relating to WWII from perspectives that step outside the aggrandizement and mythology that has developed about the actions and ramifications of World War II.
Lowe’s broad scope provides readers with an excellent place to start further research into the numerous topics covered within the book. I realize that each topic could lend itself to numerous books, but Lowe does a superb job of giving enough information to justifying-ly address his thesis and to peek the readers’ interest into going to other sources to find more information, which is what I feel a well-written non-fiction book should do.
“The Fear and Freedom” pushed me to think outside of my comfort zone at times, to open my historically geared mind, and to examine truly how WW II changed the entire world starting during the world through to present day. I will be recommending this work to many of my friends, both historians and those who enjoy having their minds pushed to think farther than just the status quo.
Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin’s press for the opportunity to read this prior to publication in exchange for an honest review.
Lowe’s broad scope provides readers with an excellent place to start further research into the numerous topics covered within the book. I realize that each topic could lend itself to numerous books, but Lowe does a superb job of giving enough information to justifying-ly address his thesis and to peek the readers’ interest into going to other sources to find more information, which is what I feel a well-written non-fiction book should do.
“The Fear and Freedom” pushed me to think outside of my comfort zone at times, to open my historically geared mind, and to examine truly how WW II changed the entire world starting during the world through to present day. I will be recommending this work to many of my friends, both historians and those who enjoy having their minds pushed to think farther than just the status quo.
Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin’s press for the opportunity to read this prior to publication in exchange for an honest review.
December 23, 2024
Excellent - I am a great admirer of Keith Lowe i was bowled over by his 'Savage Continent' and 'Prisoners of History' and I know I was as impressed and dazzled by this book but unfortunately 2021 was a difficult time with COVID and other matters and many books I read were not reviewed at the time. There are splendid reviews of this work - I can assure you of its quality and readability but can not now write a worthwhile review until, maybe? if?, I read this book again.
November 13, 2019
Εξαιρετικό βιβλίο που περιγράφει τις ηθικές και υλικές επιπτώσεις που είχε ο Β' Παγκοσμιος Πόλεμος στον κόσμο.Ο συγγραφέας με στοχευμένα παραδείγματα στο κάθε κεφάλαιο μας δίνει μια εικόνα απο την ανοικοδόμηση των πόλεων εως και τις ψυχολογικές επιδράσεις που αυτός είχε σ' όλα τα μήκη του πλανήτη.Επίσης,αναλύει εκτενέστατα , γιατί ενώ με το τέλος του πολέμου υπήρχε μια αισιοδοξία και μία τάση για περισσότερες ελευθερίες,αυτές εκτός απο ένα σύντομο χρονικό διάστημα στην ουσία δεν ευωδόθηκαν ποτέ λόγω διαφόρων παραγόντων.
October 12, 2017
I really enjoyed this. I have read a few books in my time with a more specialised focus, i.e. University books which narrow on particular elements, so it was a pleasant change to read a book with a broad, and ambitious scope.
Lowe writes well in each chapter, supported by impressive research and the anchoring of each chapter with personal stories served as an effective and illustrative entrance into the focus for the chapter. I was concerned it may have appeared as too anecdotal, but it was not the case at all. It serves as a memorable hook that helped tie each component together.
Spanning nations and continents, individuals and collectives, attitudes and developments, he makes a very compelling case for locating the source of such immense change and direction on world events that would follow. Clearly each case, whether it is a country emancipating itself from colonial rule or the scientific advancements have their own over-arching histories aside from the WW2 but nevertheless it is striking how much impact this period had on so many peoples and places.
It serves as an excellent starting point - acknowledged by the author - to dive into greater detail where you wish, as clearly each chapter would merit a library's worth of study on it's own! But, for making that over-arching case for comprehensive influence on the world today, book-ended with reflections on the current nationalistic tendencies in the world today - it achieves it's goal with a well structured, engagingly written and interesting book. I'll be keen to examine his other books.
Lowe writes well in each chapter, supported by impressive research and the anchoring of each chapter with personal stories served as an effective and illustrative entrance into the focus for the chapter. I was concerned it may have appeared as too anecdotal, but it was not the case at all. It serves as a memorable hook that helped tie each component together.
Spanning nations and continents, individuals and collectives, attitudes and developments, he makes a very compelling case for locating the source of such immense change and direction on world events that would follow. Clearly each case, whether it is a country emancipating itself from colonial rule or the scientific advancements have their own over-arching histories aside from the WW2 but nevertheless it is striking how much impact this period had on so many peoples and places.
It serves as an excellent starting point - acknowledged by the author - to dive into greater detail where you wish, as clearly each chapter would merit a library's worth of study on it's own! But, for making that over-arching case for comprehensive influence on the world today, book-ended with reflections on the current nationalistic tendencies in the world today - it achieves it's goal with a well structured, engagingly written and interesting book. I'll be keen to examine his other books.
November 30, 2017
This is a very insightful, detailed and saddening book. Keith Lowe lays everything out so clearly and succinctly that it makes one fear for the future.
While long, this book was engaging. I quite liked how Keith put individual stories in each chapter. It helps illustrate points when the stories can be associated with real people. That being said, some of the stories are heartbreaking (Choi Myeong-sun: what a horrible life this poor woman endured!). Overall, this is a very sad book. It’s sad to see what people do to each other in the name of nationalism, money, greed and fear.
My favourite sections were Part I, II and VI. I found the section on Heroes and Monsters quite interesting and it’s easy to see exactly how people operate using these mentalities. Dreadful business. I found part IV dragged a bit but that’s probably just a personal interest thing.
I would (and in fact already have) recommend that people read this book. It’s so important to see how history has shaped our landscape and how we can prevent future atrocities from occurring.
I won this book via Goodreads Giveaways! I’ve never on a book before so that was pretty exciting! Thanks to St. Martin’s Press for this advance proof!
While long, this book was engaging. I quite liked how Keith put individual stories in each chapter. It helps illustrate points when the stories can be associated with real people. That being said, some of the stories are heartbreaking (Choi Myeong-sun: what a horrible life this poor woman endured!). Overall, this is a very sad book. It’s sad to see what people do to each other in the name of nationalism, money, greed and fear.
My favourite sections were Part I, II and VI. I found the section on Heroes and Monsters quite interesting and it’s easy to see exactly how people operate using these mentalities. Dreadful business. I found part IV dragged a bit but that’s probably just a personal interest thing.
I would (and in fact already have) recommend that people read this book. It’s so important to see how history has shaped our landscape and how we can prevent future atrocities from occurring.
I won this book via Goodreads Giveaways! I’ve never on a book before so that was pretty exciting! Thanks to St. Martin’s Press for this advance proof!
August 6, 2018
World War II, more than World War I was a global war. We are still not sure how many were killed, estimates range from 50 million to 80 million. Not only soliders perished, but civilians died in air strikes, from starvation and from disease. The aftermath and the ripples from World War II are still felt today, around the world. Lowe explores these changes and their implications for our current political choices.
Why I started this book: I love World War II books and the title and cover was enough for me to pick it up.
Why I finished it: Lowe's design and research of this book was board and deep. I loved that each chapter started with a specific individual's story, personalizing the larger themes of loss, recovery, fear, freedom, immigration, heroism, and much more that would be discussed. And Lowe covered the global implications and changes of the war. From decolonization, immigration, UN, global courts and so much more.
Why I started this book: I love World War II books and the title and cover was enough for me to pick it up.
Why I finished it: Lowe's design and research of this book was board and deep. I loved that each chapter started with a specific individual's story, personalizing the larger themes of loss, recovery, fear, freedom, immigration, heroism, and much more that would be discussed. And Lowe covered the global implications and changes of the war. From decolonization, immigration, UN, global courts and so much more.
December 6, 2017
A review of the major social and political changes caused by World War II, which caused upheavals through Europe, North America and most of Asia. Certainly it changed the international economic structure and enabled the world's citizens to travel as never before.
But Lowe's account isn't compelling and is a dry read, like a social studies textbook. Some of individual cases of people who were formed by the war and lived through the war are interesting but most just outliers to history. I wanted to become engrossed in this book, having matured in the postwar era but it never happened.
But Lowe's account isn't compelling and is a dry read, like a social studies textbook. Some of individual cases of people who were formed by the war and lived through the war are interesting but most just outliers to history. I wanted to become engrossed in this book, having matured in the postwar era but it never happened.
December 21, 2019
A fascinating book. Starts out WAY too much like a college paper (Here's what I am going to talk about. I talk about it. This is what I talked about). But quickly becomes WAY more interesting than that. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Talking about what happened during the war, through the eyes of the famous and the hidden and tells an interesting tale of how the world we have to day was created by the effects of WWII.
February 11, 2018
This novel is a beast! I can definitely understand why it took Mr. Lowe 5 years to complete this novel. With all the research that went into this, and the countless hours it must have taken him and his team; Congratulations are certainly in order.
My favourite part of this novel, were the stories and references to real people that were tying each chapter together. I found those stories to be harrowing, heartbreaking and really touching and disturbing. The glimpses into each persons life was incredibly different, and really eye opening.
I did find parts of this novel to be rather dry, the pacing compared to previous chapters may have been off. However, I think this is a novel that everyone needs to read. The subject matter is too important to not include this either in educational programs, or just for every human to understand their actions have lasting repercussions. Mr. Lowe takes his time and provides multiple points of views; and really wants the reader to understand the gravity of World War Two and how it changed the world and how it is still effecting us all today.
My favourite part of this novel, were the stories and references to real people that were tying each chapter together. I found those stories to be harrowing, heartbreaking and really touching and disturbing. The glimpses into each persons life was incredibly different, and really eye opening.
I did find parts of this novel to be rather dry, the pacing compared to previous chapters may have been off. However, I think this is a novel that everyone needs to read. The subject matter is too important to not include this either in educational programs, or just for every human to understand their actions have lasting repercussions. Mr. Lowe takes his time and provides multiple points of views; and really wants the reader to understand the gravity of World War Two and how it changed the world and how it is still effecting us all today.
December 28, 2020
An amazing book about some of the ways in which World War Two still shapes our world. I was quite surprised. If you like books that make you think, I absolutely recommend that you give this one a read.
April 3, 2019
(Audiobook) I was surprised by this one. Started kind of slow, but as the book evolved, I found myself more engaged with what the author was trying to say. This work attempts to dissect how the world changed after the most destructive war in human history, and many of those impacts are still felt to this day, 74 years after the final combatants ended hostilities.
Yet, there is a mythology about World War II. For America, and those on the winning side, it is seen as the “last good war”. The Allies could do no wrong, a sentiment shared by Americas, Russians, British, French...all the victorious combatants. The Nazis were the ultimate villains, but only the real Nazis, and not the ordinary Germans (or other “ordinary” Axis powers). Any Jew, or other person, who somehow survived the Holocaust was the definition of brave, no matter what the issue or thought from others. The UN, which was an attempted to not repeat the mistakes of the League of Nations, was the catalyst for the stability, or at least, the fact that we did not have WWIII. The US proved that it was the champion of democracy and human values, never bending or yielding to tyrants....just a sample of the perceptions and myths that came out of the war as the reflections of that war grew over time.
While this book is not solely about slaying the sacred cows associated with the memory of WWII, this book does seek to enlighten the reader about where myth and reality meet and diverge in the post-war reflections. True, there were many heroic acts, and for those who fought and survived, there is honor in that. However, not everyone was virtuous, and that applies for all parties. For a long time, at least until the trial of Eichmann, many of those Jews who spent the war in Palestine looked down upon the refugees who fled Europe after surviving the Holocaust, feeling them weak examples of Jewry for the new state of Israel. The UN did make some progress in world stability, but by design, it was never going to be strong enough to subjugate nationalism, a significant threat as seen by the author.
This work blends academic style research with personal accounts, making it a very effective reading of what could be a very dry subject. He does not call for a dismissal for all the honorable memories of the war, but he does ask people to be honest, and know that behind the myth, there is a truth, sometimes uncomfortable. Given recent efforts that not only extol the actions of the war (Russia, USA, etc), but also call out any attempt to deviate from that mythology (Poland, Russia, USA, Israel), a work like this is a good one to keep in mind. The study of history is important, but the study of history the right way is even more effective. Whether reading the physical book or listening to the audiobook, this one is worth the time to read, especially to help offer insight into a vital part of human history.
Yet, there is a mythology about World War II. For America, and those on the winning side, it is seen as the “last good war”. The Allies could do no wrong, a sentiment shared by Americas, Russians, British, French...all the victorious combatants. The Nazis were the ultimate villains, but only the real Nazis, and not the ordinary Germans (or other “ordinary” Axis powers). Any Jew, or other person, who somehow survived the Holocaust was the definition of brave, no matter what the issue or thought from others. The UN, which was an attempted to not repeat the mistakes of the League of Nations, was the catalyst for the stability, or at least, the fact that we did not have WWIII. The US proved that it was the champion of democracy and human values, never bending or yielding to tyrants....just a sample of the perceptions and myths that came out of the war as the reflections of that war grew over time.
While this book is not solely about slaying the sacred cows associated with the memory of WWII, this book does seek to enlighten the reader about where myth and reality meet and diverge in the post-war reflections. True, there were many heroic acts, and for those who fought and survived, there is honor in that. However, not everyone was virtuous, and that applies for all parties. For a long time, at least until the trial of Eichmann, many of those Jews who spent the war in Palestine looked down upon the refugees who fled Europe after surviving the Holocaust, feeling them weak examples of Jewry for the new state of Israel. The UN did make some progress in world stability, but by design, it was never going to be strong enough to subjugate nationalism, a significant threat as seen by the author.
This work blends academic style research with personal accounts, making it a very effective reading of what could be a very dry subject. He does not call for a dismissal for all the honorable memories of the war, but he does ask people to be honest, and know that behind the myth, there is a truth, sometimes uncomfortable. Given recent efforts that not only extol the actions of the war (Russia, USA, etc), but also call out any attempt to deviate from that mythology (Poland, Russia, USA, Israel), a work like this is a good one to keep in mind. The study of history is important, but the study of history the right way is even more effective. Whether reading the physical book or listening to the audiobook, this one is worth the time to read, especially to help offer insight into a vital part of human history.
October 8, 2019
Here's my problem with our way of thinking about the Second World War: that it is exclusively the terrain of historians, who in their pursuit of facts (implying that there is such a thing as objectivity in the first place) tell us how many people died, were tortured, displaced or attacked and where, what weapons were used, and so on. This has the added connotation that the focus on facts and linear historiography is a masculine and therefore objective practice, as opposed to the more 'feminine' approach of focusing on the emotional histories of the war, which is more subjective and, some people argue, therefore less 'trustworthy'.
History is always passed down by storytelling - and storytelling is always already subjective. More books have been written about the Second World War than probably about any other topic, and they run the gamut from survivors' autobiographies to encyclopedias about different types of sea mines. I'm not a historian, I'm a cultural scientist, and it's my experience that the way we learn about the war is mainly through stories - movies, novels, and the personal histories that museums and places of heritage are increasingly foregrounding these days. What I loved about this book is that the author shares my view that we should not be thinking of the war solely in factual terms, as if it had little to do with us in the present. Instead, we should be treating it like a mythology, and a foundational one at that; just as the ancient Greeks passed tales of the Trojan war on for generations, we should recognise that we have the tendency to do the same, whereby we tend to oversimplify the infinite complexities of societies at war and divide the past up into neat categories: heroes, villains/monsters, and martyrs.
This is a great book; completely riveting, and pulls no punches in offering a totally refreshing view on the war and its legacy. The scope is enormous, but by focusing on individual stories that act as pars pro toto Lowe keeps it comprehensible. I was especially happy about the way he foregrounds the experiences of women and POC, and also touches on the impact the war had in far less spotlighted places, like Africa, the Caribbean, and South America. He highlights the way the age-old struggle between being free and independent or feeling like you belong somewhere was played out on the world stage during the war, not just for individuals but for nations too, which laid the foundations for the problems our world faces today.
History is always passed down by storytelling - and storytelling is always already subjective. More books have been written about the Second World War than probably about any other topic, and they run the gamut from survivors' autobiographies to encyclopedias about different types of sea mines. I'm not a historian, I'm a cultural scientist, and it's my experience that the way we learn about the war is mainly through stories - movies, novels, and the personal histories that museums and places of heritage are increasingly foregrounding these days. What I loved about this book is that the author shares my view that we should not be thinking of the war solely in factual terms, as if it had little to do with us in the present. Instead, we should be treating it like a mythology, and a foundational one at that; just as the ancient Greeks passed tales of the Trojan war on for generations, we should recognise that we have the tendency to do the same, whereby we tend to oversimplify the infinite complexities of societies at war and divide the past up into neat categories: heroes, villains/monsters, and martyrs.
This is a great book; completely riveting, and pulls no punches in offering a totally refreshing view on the war and its legacy. The scope is enormous, but by focusing on individual stories that act as pars pro toto Lowe keeps it comprehensible. I was especially happy about the way he foregrounds the experiences of women and POC, and also touches on the impact the war had in far less spotlighted places, like Africa, the Caribbean, and South America. He highlights the way the age-old struggle between being free and independent or feeling like you belong somewhere was played out on the world stage during the war, not just for individuals but for nations too, which laid the foundations for the problems our world faces today.
May 6, 2019
Has there ever been a book as informative and disturbing about the state of the modern world and the legacy of the Second World War as The Fear and the Freedom? I very much doubt it. Keith Lowe, author of the equally superb Savage Continent, has produced a masterpiece of historical research, comment and writing. All who wish to understand how we got into the mess we're in should read this.
The author uses the very effective technique of introducing each topic by linking it to the experiences of a witness, victim, survivor or participant, a technique successfully used by Richard Evans in his groundbreaking History of the Third Reich. These people are not major players but just ordinary folk whose lives were turned upside down by the war. Inevitably, this makes The Fear and the Freedom a very hard read at times.
Equally impressive is the clarity of argument. I doubt that I've ever read a more helpful assessment of the Arab-Israeli conflict nor indeed the battle over Brexit. The 'winds of change' blowing through Africa were, when I was a boy, often portrayed as terrorists breaking up the British Empire for example whereas, as Lowe points out, these were indigenous peoples simply trying to run their own lives as was the case throughout the empire.
Lowe makes an irrefutable case for pointing the finger at the Second World War for shaping our world today and bases his argument on painstaking research. A superlative piece of easy to follow modern historical scholarship.
David Lowther. Author of The Blue Pencil, Liberating Belsen, Two Families at War and The Summer of '39, all published by Sacristy Press.
The author uses the very effective technique of introducing each topic by linking it to the experiences of a witness, victim, survivor or participant, a technique successfully used by Richard Evans in his groundbreaking History of the Third Reich. These people are not major players but just ordinary folk whose lives were turned upside down by the war. Inevitably, this makes The Fear and the Freedom a very hard read at times.
Equally impressive is the clarity of argument. I doubt that I've ever read a more helpful assessment of the Arab-Israeli conflict nor indeed the battle over Brexit. The 'winds of change' blowing through Africa were, when I was a boy, often portrayed as terrorists breaking up the British Empire for example whereas, as Lowe points out, these were indigenous peoples simply trying to run their own lives as was the case throughout the empire.
Lowe makes an irrefutable case for pointing the finger at the Second World War for shaping our world today and bases his argument on painstaking research. A superlative piece of easy to follow modern historical scholarship.
David Lowther. Author of The Blue Pencil, Liberating Belsen, Two Families at War and The Summer of '39, all published by Sacristy Press.
December 20, 2020
Každá kapitola je uvozena osobním příběhem, který začíná nebo je silně ovlivněn druhou světovou válkou. Následně je rozvinut do obecných událostí a souvislostí, které ukazují, jak byl život druhé poloviny dvacátého století touto válkou ovlivněn v mnoha směrech lidského činění a uvažování.
Celkem neveselé čtení. Ale podstatné.
Celkem neveselé čtení. Ale podstatné.
March 8, 2022
Vyloženě mi to sedlo. Četba plná širších dějinných souvislostí a dopadů války včetně individuálních lidských osudů a zajímavých příběhů státu jako Izrael, Indonésie a nebo Keňa. Kdo rád dokumentární koláže Adama Curtise, se znepokojivou atmosférou přízraků minulosti, rozpadu nadějí na lepší svět a konce starých pořádků, tak tady není nad čím rozmýšlet.
September 9, 2017
Terrifically researched and an important thesis on how the postwar developments in the west have been deeply flawed. I liked the idea of starting each section with a personal story that roots the argument in something real and tangible but its application was of variable quality.
May 13, 2020
Outstanding: moving and thought-provoking. Resonant to read at this time. A more diligent reader would have finished it on VE day, 8 May, though!
May 21, 2024
Page 210 (my book)
The question of war guilt was never properly laid to rest: it was merely buried. It has lurked deep within our collective subconscious ever since.
This book covers a lot of ground – in fact it spans the globe to places like Indonesia, Kenya, Israel, and Venezuela as well as the expected countries like England, U.S.A., France, Germany, Soviet Union, and Japan.
This is its strength, but also its weakness. It's difficult to find unifying themes. There were statements made by the author that were simply off base. For example (on page 404): [The British] having allowed Stalin to do this [annex Poland in 1944-45]. This is a ridiculous allegation. Aside from going to war against the Red Army’s millions of soldiers in Eastern Europe, there was absolutely nothing the British or the U.S. could do to stop Soviet encroachment and subsequent takeover of Eastern Europe.
In each country, the author brings up the life of a few individuals impacted by the Second World War. The transitions brought on by the war were the most gripping parts of the book.
Page 104 after the war
In 1945 anything seemed possible.
As the author explains, there was a euphoria at war’s end that a much better world was soon to be built. There was a belief that democracy and freedom would spread everywhere. This led to much disillusionment.
Page 70 Jawaharlal Nehru 1949
“Yet some past evil or karma or some destiny goes on pushing in a particular direction, towards the abyss, and they go through the same arguments and they perform the same gestures like automatons.”
The end of colonialism promised much – but nationalism and ethnicity reared its head. In a real sense it was “nationalism” that led to World War II – specifically German and Japanese racial nationalism – and now it was taken up by other countries.
There was a clash between universalism (espoused by the U.N., and as the author points out - a few other individuals who renounced their citizenship) – and nationalism. The ultimate conundrum is the U.N. itself, which is universalist, but composed of nation-states.
Page 138
But these dilemmas also point the way to one of the most important characteristics of the age: the conflict between the urge to draw together as one, and the urge to fragment into different and smaller groups. This was the single quandary that more than any other defined the postwar era… the conflict between the urge to belong and the urge to be free… the most urgent philosophical dilemma of the postwar age.
And the “sanctity” of nations in the U.N. has allowed many authoritarian regimes to perpetrate human right violations within their own countries.
Page 288
In some respects [Suharto of Indonesia] had defined what constituted a new nation in the postwar period… it was not a common language, or a common purpose, or values or ideals… it was authority [power]. Indonesia was quite simply what the army said it was, because there was no one left who was capable of arguing with them.
Into this mix was the Cold War, which accelerated after 1945. The world was stuck between two superpowers, each of whom was accumulating nuclear weapons (the Soviet Union acquired nuclear capability in 1949).
The writer also tends to overemphasize myths – or myth-making – like victimhood, heroes, perpetrators of evil. I feel (on page 60) that he totally mis-categorized Daniel Goldhagen’s book “Hitler’s Willing Executioner’s” as being a “comforting portrayal of the monster”. Goldhagen’s emphasis is on “ordinary Germans” and their willingness to kill “the other”. It was snippets like this that made Keith Lowe’s book cursory.
He does bring up how war accelerated all aspects of society – more so technology, science, and medicine.
Page 91
In 1941, the commercial production of penicillin in the USA was zero; by the end of the war, as a result of massive effort to research, refine and develop the drug, American manufacturers were producing over 646 billion units of penicillin per month.
The author contends Europe accomplished the most in promoting “universality” with the building blocks of the European Union being started in the 1950s. Also, many West European countries introduced social reforms, such as welfare and health care programs (I should add that Canada did this as well). It was an attempt at social equality and fairness.
Despite the shortcomings I have mentioned, this book has a wide scope. It delves not only on the political and sociological, but on the psychological and philosophical (Sartre is brought up).
The last section of the book about individual experiences in Korea, Ukraine, and Hungary was the most poignant and strongest.
Page 426
Those who think of history as a progressive force… underestimate man’s capacity for irrationality.
Page 379 Choi Myeong-sun a former Korean “comfort woman” in the Japanese Army
“I look normal on the outside, but I suffer from nervous disorder, who would be able to guess what inner agony I suffer with this awful story buried in my heart.”
The question of war guilt was never properly laid to rest: it was merely buried. It has lurked deep within our collective subconscious ever since.
This book covers a lot of ground – in fact it spans the globe to places like Indonesia, Kenya, Israel, and Venezuela as well as the expected countries like England, U.S.A., France, Germany, Soviet Union, and Japan.
This is its strength, but also its weakness. It's difficult to find unifying themes. There were statements made by the author that were simply off base. For example (on page 404): [The British] having allowed Stalin to do this [annex Poland in 1944-45]. This is a ridiculous allegation. Aside from going to war against the Red Army’s millions of soldiers in Eastern Europe, there was absolutely nothing the British or the U.S. could do to stop Soviet encroachment and subsequent takeover of Eastern Europe.
In each country, the author brings up the life of a few individuals impacted by the Second World War. The transitions brought on by the war were the most gripping parts of the book.
Page 104 after the war
In 1945 anything seemed possible.
As the author explains, there was a euphoria at war’s end that a much better world was soon to be built. There was a belief that democracy and freedom would spread everywhere. This led to much disillusionment.
Page 70 Jawaharlal Nehru 1949
“Yet some past evil or karma or some destiny goes on pushing in a particular direction, towards the abyss, and they go through the same arguments and they perform the same gestures like automatons.”
The end of colonialism promised much – but nationalism and ethnicity reared its head. In a real sense it was “nationalism” that led to World War II – specifically German and Japanese racial nationalism – and now it was taken up by other countries.
There was a clash between universalism (espoused by the U.N., and as the author points out - a few other individuals who renounced their citizenship) – and nationalism. The ultimate conundrum is the U.N. itself, which is universalist, but composed of nation-states.
Page 138
But these dilemmas also point the way to one of the most important characteristics of the age: the conflict between the urge to draw together as one, and the urge to fragment into different and smaller groups. This was the single quandary that more than any other defined the postwar era… the conflict between the urge to belong and the urge to be free… the most urgent philosophical dilemma of the postwar age.
And the “sanctity” of nations in the U.N. has allowed many authoritarian regimes to perpetrate human right violations within their own countries.
Page 288
In some respects [Suharto of Indonesia] had defined what constituted a new nation in the postwar period… it was not a common language, or a common purpose, or values or ideals… it was authority [power]. Indonesia was quite simply what the army said it was, because there was no one left who was capable of arguing with them.
Into this mix was the Cold War, which accelerated after 1945. The world was stuck between two superpowers, each of whom was accumulating nuclear weapons (the Soviet Union acquired nuclear capability in 1949).
The writer also tends to overemphasize myths – or myth-making – like victimhood, heroes, perpetrators of evil. I feel (on page 60) that he totally mis-categorized Daniel Goldhagen’s book “Hitler’s Willing Executioner’s” as being a “comforting portrayal of the monster”. Goldhagen’s emphasis is on “ordinary Germans” and their willingness to kill “the other”. It was snippets like this that made Keith Lowe’s book cursory.
He does bring up how war accelerated all aspects of society – more so technology, science, and medicine.
Page 91
In 1941, the commercial production of penicillin in the USA was zero; by the end of the war, as a result of massive effort to research, refine and develop the drug, American manufacturers were producing over 646 billion units of penicillin per month.
The author contends Europe accomplished the most in promoting “universality” with the building blocks of the European Union being started in the 1950s. Also, many West European countries introduced social reforms, such as welfare and health care programs (I should add that Canada did this as well). It was an attempt at social equality and fairness.
Despite the shortcomings I have mentioned, this book has a wide scope. It delves not only on the political and sociological, but on the psychological and philosophical (Sartre is brought up).
The last section of the book about individual experiences in Korea, Ukraine, and Hungary was the most poignant and strongest.
Page 426
Those who think of history as a progressive force… underestimate man’s capacity for irrationality.
Page 379 Choi Myeong-sun a former Korean “comfort woman” in the Japanese Army
“I look normal on the outside, but I suffer from nervous disorder, who would be able to guess what inner agony I suffer with this awful story buried in my heart.”
July 17, 2024
Pretty much an Israel sympathizer. I feel like this man gathered all the proof there is about how Israel is the bad guy, yet still tries to position it in a good light. He says he doesn't want to minimise the traumatic experiences of the people killed in the wars, but that's exactly what he does, trying to come up with a ton of excuses and to justify everything Israel did. Honestly, I could've learnt about Israel-Palestine's history without his useless opinions who could be interpreted as misinformation. The only thing I can agree on, is that the comparison between the Holocaust and what's happening in Gaza is not the same, yet even though the numbers of victims are very different and the methods of torture are not what the nazis used, they're both genocides, one of which is happening this very moment. (Didn't care about the wtf-quote the author used here). Even though in the book he says that this "black and white thinking" is not relevant in this situation, which yeah, it is very complex. Who knew that there aren't just good and bad guys. The "good guys" can actually become bad and evil. (Israel) Shocking, I know. But then he uses it in a way to protect Israel from all this hate it has received over the decades. Make it make sense, there's hate for a state that shouldn't have existed on AN ALREADY OCCUPIED TERRITORY??? Ohh nooo.
I still firmly believe that the abused (jews were killed by germans) became the abuser( palestinians are now killed by jews). People of Israel continue to perpetuate this violent cycle to show the world they are constantly the victim, to protect themselves from the "abuser" (the middle-eastern countries). But after they murderously stole the land of Palestinian people (which the author actually specifies all the wrong and horrible things people of Israel did) why are you so surprised to see that the other countries are going to revolt against it? Who gave you the permission to allow all these jews to enter "Israel" and make "Israel" a state? Because they've already been in that genocide and they need a state of their own? Why not make it accessible and possible to offer them their home back from where these jews were forcefully taken from, why not offer them education, jobs, EVERYTHING in the country they were ORIGINALLY FROM?
Even the author says that they didn't even wait for ONU's response when they tried to persuade it into allowing all these jews to mass-immigrate in "Israel", they just decided to take action by themselves( oh, I wonder how that happened, by killing the people already in that land that were not jews). Once these immigrants jews came, they were forced to change their name, whole identity even, learn hebrew, "forget" their traumatic past and start over, etc. But the question here is, couldn't they start over in their countries from where they were taken from?
Even these yishuv jews were a bunch of hypocrites who didn't even like these "weak, effeminate, full of diseases immigrant jews". I swear to god this Zionist ideology will be the death for some. Oh no wait, it already is.( But just to make it clear I ain't an antisemite, I'm just condemning the Zionist ideology)
The author is whinning so god damn much: "why is Israel soo criticised when there are other countries who did the exact same thing as israel" (what news are you even reading?? There are people who talk about these issues, just because you don't see it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist) "Why don't you see people talking about Venezuela politics, or any other county? Why is Israel always talked in such a bad way?" (Really now? God, this book's so stupid, I'm not even going answer anything anymore). The author wants to appear such a smarty-pants is not even funny anymore.
I was excited to read this book, even learn more about the israel-Palastine conflict, but I don't even want to finish it anymore. I came searching for answers, but instead I left searching for so many questions. Don't recommend it. Read Noam Chomsky's books if that's what you're looking for, they'll offer more insight than whatever this garbage was.
I still firmly believe that the abused (jews were killed by germans) became the abuser( palestinians are now killed by jews). People of Israel continue to perpetuate this violent cycle to show the world they are constantly the victim, to protect themselves from the "abuser" (the middle-eastern countries). But after they murderously stole the land of Palestinian people (which the author actually specifies all the wrong and horrible things people of Israel did) why are you so surprised to see that the other countries are going to revolt against it? Who gave you the permission to allow all these jews to enter "Israel" and make "Israel" a state? Because they've already been in that genocide and they need a state of their own? Why not make it accessible and possible to offer them their home back from where these jews were forcefully taken from, why not offer them education, jobs, EVERYTHING in the country they were ORIGINALLY FROM?
Even the author says that they didn't even wait for ONU's response when they tried to persuade it into allowing all these jews to mass-immigrate in "Israel", they just decided to take action by themselves( oh, I wonder how that happened, by killing the people already in that land that were not jews). Once these immigrants jews came, they were forced to change their name, whole identity even, learn hebrew, "forget" their traumatic past and start over, etc. But the question here is, couldn't they start over in their countries from where they were taken from?
Even these yishuv jews were a bunch of hypocrites who didn't even like these "weak, effeminate, full of diseases immigrant jews". I swear to god this Zionist ideology will be the death for some. Oh no wait, it already is.( But just to make it clear I ain't an antisemite, I'm just condemning the Zionist ideology)
The author is whinning so god damn much: "why is Israel soo criticised when there are other countries who did the exact same thing as israel" (what news are you even reading?? There are people who talk about these issues, just because you don't see it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist) "Why don't you see people talking about Venezuela politics, or any other county? Why is Israel always talked in such a bad way?" (Really now? God, this book's so stupid, I'm not even going answer anything anymore). The author wants to appear such a smarty-pants is not even funny anymore.
I was excited to read this book, even learn more about the israel-Palastine conflict, but I don't even want to finish it anymore. I came searching for answers, but instead I left searching for so many questions. Don't recommend it. Read Noam Chomsky's books if that's what you're looking for, they'll offer more insight than whatever this garbage was.
May 28, 2018
“Heroes, no matter their nationality, can get so caught up in their own idea of themselves that they become blind to their own faults. Moreover, they are often quick to see faults in others. The problem with heroes is that they will always need a monster to fight; and the more perfect the hero, the more correspondingly threatening the monster must be.”
Like in his superbly researched, “Savage Continent”, Lowe takes a refreshing look at many aspects of the Second World War. He uses psychological and philosophical approaches along with his historical and political background to view accepted truths about the conflict with some compelling and sometimes controversial results. Like his previous book he places particular emphasis on events directly after the war. He interviews or lifts other interviews from the likes of Georgina Sand, and people like former US soldier, Leonard Creo, Parisienne activist Francoise Leclercq, holocaust survivor Otto Dov Kulka, pacifist Garry Davis, as well as the incredible story of the Romanian born, Israeli author Aharon Appelfeld. All of these and other combined histories and recollections give us a really informed and fascinating series of accounts that paint some bleak and also inspiring details and background into people’s version of war and the lives it led them to afterwards.
Lowe explains how a contrived and revisionist narrative has gradually emerged from the end of the war, this is one which doesn’t allow for nuance or ambiguities, but instead it relies on oversimplifying, often incredibly complex situations and events in order to make them more palatable and accessible to the masses to serve their intended purpose. So what we end up with is trite, reductive scenarios like, Good v Evil, Heroes and Villains, Saviours and Victims. Polarising extremes that foster prejudice, fear and intolerance. The sharper the contrast the more powerful the concepts, and anyone who dares to challenge or question them is then attacked and shoved into one of the same, narrow, preordained boxes, and this way no way has to do any serious critical thinking or explore other possible scenarios. This is of course is how politics and propaganda works the world over and as Lowe demonstrates how these tactics continue to be employed today with some devastating effects.
“The illusion of Allied perfection during the Second World War has had profound effects on the post-war world. Having told themselves that they had been involved in a ‘good war’, the British and Americans have been searching for a new good war ever since.” He adds that, “We want to believe that our heroes were flawless, even today. We all instinctively bristle against any suggestion that they might also have been selfish, bungling, ignorant, chauvinist, occasionally brutal-in short, human.” He pulls out a number of sobering, but little spoken about facts in the west, that allow us to challenge many established ideas that we may hold about the war. I for one, had no idea that, “The US Army alone stands accused of raping as many as 17,000 women in North Africa and Europe between 1942 and 1945.”
He discusses the so called concept of ‘Holocaust envy’, in particular with the case of Poland, during the war, “The country was repeatedly dismembered, and emerged from the war with a smashed economy, razed cities and entirely redrawn borders.” After being betrayed by the west it then found itself enslaved in a communist, totalitarian system. “In absolute terms, it suffered the same number of deaths as did Jews-indeed, half of the Jews who were murdered were in fact also Polish.” But yet it never receives anywhere near the same level of recognition or sympathy from the rest of the world.
Undoubtedly America came out of the war far better off than any other nation on Earth; this was helped by the fact that the entire continent of mainland North America was virtually untouched by the devastation that destroyed so many countries elsewhere around the globe. Other countries who came out relatively well, if we can apply such a term, included Canada, Australia and South Africa, as well as neutral countries like Sweden and Switzerland. Places like Iceland, Iraq, Iran, Egypt and Palestine also ended the war with large budget surpluses. On the other hand, depending on what stats you chose to believe, the Soviets lost between 20-27 million and the Chinese may have lost as many as 35 million. Other comparative losses included, about one in every 5 Ukrainians lost their lives, around 1 in 6 Poles, 1 in 11 Germans, 1 in every 25 Japanese, 1 in every 30 Chinese, 1 in 80 French, around 1-160 Brits and less than 1 in 300 Americans, which gives us one way of measuring the scale of loss.
Lowe explores many of the major events that happened around the world after the war. In the US we see the effects of McCarthyism and the Truman Doctrine would have stateside, and also around the world from then to the present day. He also goes into the founding of Israel, Indian independence and the political upheaval in Venezuela and elsewhere. He examines the decolonisation of Africa, and how no country actually gained the true idea of independence that they thought they would gain, instead what happened was most countries fell into forms of neo-colonialism, as various countries descended into kleptocracies, dictatorships, tribal wars and proxy wars from the US and the USSR and in some cases even genocide.
He discusses the double standards of the west, who were so morally outraged by the Soviet Union’s post-war expansionism into Eastern Europe, and the so called enslavement of the Eastern bloc and the rigging of their elections, yet the west stood back whilst other right wing countries within their sphere of influence did exactly the same and of course as well as this the US through the likes of the CIA would go onto train armies in torture, arm them and bankroll dictators against democratically elected leaders in many parts of the world from Indonesia, the Congo to Chile and Argentina, as well as doing so elsewhere in the likes of Central America and the Middle East. And this was not to mention the lack of basic rights of blacks in the deep south of the US. Then there was the oppressive colonialism that Great Britain, France, Portugal and the Netherlands were guilty of, for centuries which punished millions more than the Soviets did.
“A universal victim can be just as useful as a universal scapegoat in bringing nations and peoples together.”
Talking about many of the groups to emerge after the war, he speaks about the UN, and the special privileges of the Big Five, as well as the genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Yugoslavia and Sudan that they chose to sit back and allow, he lists the many wars they themselves have started since it came into being and rightly concludes, “When push comes to shove, the Big Five have proven themselves more or less free to start wars whenever they want.” We also see how the nations of the world remain petty children in the playground, when they prevent sanctions against any smaller nations that they have close ties and vested interests in, “Thus the Soviet Union always protected Cuba, China still protects North Korea, and America steadfastly prevents any sanctions against Israel.” Though he goes onto a make a good point, showing the role the UN has played in helping nations obtain independence and although it is not always successful in stopping small wars it has at least helped prevent another world war.
This is another really interesting book from Lowe. It’s an accessible, thoroughly researched, nicely balanced and well edited account exploring much of the world in the aftermath of the Second World War, that dares to do what most other books on the subject would never dream of, and that is openly challenge the many accepted myths, lies and propaganda that we’ve been told and that we tell ourselves about what happened. There are many similar themes and issues that have been recently visited by the likes of A.C. Grayling’s “War”, Tim Marshall’s “Divided” and the work of Laurence Rees, and like those titles this makes for highly compelling reading.
October 17, 2021
Review:
This book tells the story of World War 2, from the personal story of several individuals affected by the war. It created a seamless link between the fate of a person, to the fate of the nation, and eventually the fate of the world. It's a great way to learn history. A must read for everyone, who cares to know why the World turned out to be the way it is now, what precious lessons we can all learn at the expense of so many lives, and most importantly what we can do to prevent World War III.
Comments:
This is how history should be taught in schools. Not a series of random dates and names to be memorized, but what motivated various events to take place and what were the different perspectives towards them. Not to focus solely on their own countries but show what happened to their countries in relation to the bigger picture. Not to show myths of perfect heroes, completely innocent victims and martyrs, and absolutely irredeemable monsters, but the irrevocable truth that the "great" war was waged by ordinary imperfect humans like all of us.
I am especially emotional against the last point..."the myths" I have been led to believe since school. It doesn't seem like much, but looking back, it affected me greatly. I saw the world in black and white, ignoring the complex nature of history and settled for the "simpler" version of history, choosing to drown myself in the "righteous power of the crowd", embracing the sense of belonging -- which I now realise also meant, giving up my freedom. By providing the different perspectives and the bigger picture, this book grant me freedom, but also the responsibility to think and decide for myself, of what was "right" and "wrong".
Many nations have told their accounts in a way that screams of denial. This is incapacitating and dangerous. Only by learning our faults and facing our traumas head on, can we begin to try to move on, and prevent the next world war from ever happening.
The parallels between the events that led to World War 2, and what's happening in the world now is striking. "Unless we begin to solve them again, the demagogues and revolutionaries will step in to solve them for us, just as they once did in the middle of the twentieth century."
I am intoxicated by the book, but I was recently told that this is a good thing for an author. ;)
This book tells the story of World War 2, from the personal story of several individuals affected by the war. It created a seamless link between the fate of a person, to the fate of the nation, and eventually the fate of the world. It's a great way to learn history. A must read for everyone, who cares to know why the World turned out to be the way it is now, what precious lessons we can all learn at the expense of so many lives, and most importantly what we can do to prevent World War III.
Comments:
This is how history should be taught in schools. Not a series of random dates and names to be memorized, but what motivated various events to take place and what were the different perspectives towards them. Not to focus solely on their own countries but show what happened to their countries in relation to the bigger picture. Not to show myths of perfect heroes, completely innocent victims and martyrs, and absolutely irredeemable monsters, but the irrevocable truth that the "great" war was waged by ordinary imperfect humans like all of us.
I am especially emotional against the last point..."the myths" I have been led to believe since school. It doesn't seem like much, but looking back, it affected me greatly. I saw the world in black and white, ignoring the complex nature of history and settled for the "simpler" version of history, choosing to drown myself in the "righteous power of the crowd", embracing the sense of belonging -- which I now realise also meant, giving up my freedom. By providing the different perspectives and the bigger picture, this book grant me freedom, but also the responsibility to think and decide for myself, of what was "right" and "wrong".
Many nations have told their accounts in a way that screams of denial. This is incapacitating and dangerous. Only by learning our faults and facing our traumas head on, can we begin to try to move on, and prevent the next world war from ever happening.
The parallels between the events that led to World War 2, and what's happening in the world now is striking. "Unless we begin to solve them again, the demagogues and revolutionaries will step in to solve them for us, just as they once did in the middle of the twentieth century."
I am intoxicated by the book, but I was recently told that this is a good thing for an author. ;)
July 10, 2024
I absolutely loved this book, and learned SO much. It took me many months to finish it, because I read it so carefully. Lowe is not only a brilliant historian, but also a terrific writer and thinker, who helps to explain this crazy modern world of ours.
Lowe surveys the entire world, explaining how WWII transformed literally everything, from national boundaries, to the way we think of nations themselves, to culture, to mass movements of people. I had no idea that so many millions of people were displaced, usually against their will, by the changes in national boundaries, nor the way that the war spelled the end of colonialism.
The book is told around individual life stories, so that we see the personal impact that the war had on people in various countries in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. This makes the book read almost like a novel, and it’s hard to put down, despite being nonfiction.
I’d give anything to spend an evening with the author discussing current events and the upcoming election in the US — especially the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, which he addresses even though the book came out before either war began. Here’s how he talks about Israel, written five years before the war in Gaza started:
“The problem with creating a culture of heroes and martyrs is that societies cannot believe in such things without also believing in a monster. The fear of a new Holocaust necessarily implies that Israel’s enemies are the new Nazis. And since Israel’s most immediate enemies are Arab nations, it only takes a small leap of the imagination to start seeing all Arabs —including the Arabs who live inside Israel — as potential murderers.”
“Herein lies Israel’s greatest fear of all, and one which few dare even acknowledge. If life is indeed a perpetual war, then it will almost inevitably involve committing atrocities at some level. An existential war cannot be fought half-heartedly. When a nation faces not only defeat but annihilation, it must be prepared to do anything.”
Lowe surveys the entire world, explaining how WWII transformed literally everything, from national boundaries, to the way we think of nations themselves, to culture, to mass movements of people. I had no idea that so many millions of people were displaced, usually against their will, by the changes in national boundaries, nor the way that the war spelled the end of colonialism.
The book is told around individual life stories, so that we see the personal impact that the war had on people in various countries in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. This makes the book read almost like a novel, and it’s hard to put down, despite being nonfiction.
I’d give anything to spend an evening with the author discussing current events and the upcoming election in the US — especially the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, which he addresses even though the book came out before either war began. Here’s how he talks about Israel, written five years before the war in Gaza started:
“The problem with creating a culture of heroes and martyrs is that societies cannot believe in such things without also believing in a monster. The fear of a new Holocaust necessarily implies that Israel’s enemies are the new Nazis. And since Israel’s most immediate enemies are Arab nations, it only takes a small leap of the imagination to start seeing all Arabs —including the Arabs who live inside Israel — as potential murderers.”
“Herein lies Israel’s greatest fear of all, and one which few dare even acknowledge. If life is indeed a perpetual war, then it will almost inevitably involve committing atrocities at some level. An existential war cannot be fought half-heartedly. When a nation faces not only defeat but annihilation, it must be prepared to do anything.”
August 3, 2024
2024 and tensions around the world are seriously heating up. I have a sense that everything we established after World War 2 - the United Nations, and a "rules-based international order" - is for the first time seriously under threat. Maybe that's wrong, since we lived through decades of the Cold War since then. But I was born in 1991, just before the collapse of the Soviet Union. So maybe my perspective is wrong. Certainly, however, the unipolar moment I grew up in is coming to a close. And it seems to be in a way that will be less than pacific.
This led me back to WW2 and its aftermath. Like many, I have always been fascinated by WW2 - it's something that grips many of our imaginations, I think, and author Keith Lowe even touches on that quite a bit. However, apart from basic history knowledge, I have never been deeply aware of the post-WW2 order and how and why things were set up that way. That led me to this book.
It is well-written, and I am fully on board with the author's message. I think for anyone asking the same questions as I have laid out above, it's certainly worth the read. I cannot give it 5 stars because there were a couple of points I didn't like. 1. A Western / US bias vis-a-vis the Soviet Union and communism, which may be justified to some extent, but IMO not to the extent of the author. And 2., a little bit too much psychology for me.
In the end the author nailed it with his message - life is complex and we ought not to boil it down to simplicities, otherwise we run the risk of major conflict again. But I think he almost went against that message throughout the book by trying to formulate deep psychological analysis of all of the individuals presented. I could have lived without that part.
The book is a bit long, but it's not a difficult read, and it's mildly entertaining. I wouldn't consider it one of my favorite reads, but given what I set out to learn about, I'd say it was worthwhile.
This led me back to WW2 and its aftermath. Like many, I have always been fascinated by WW2 - it's something that grips many of our imaginations, I think, and author Keith Lowe even touches on that quite a bit. However, apart from basic history knowledge, I have never been deeply aware of the post-WW2 order and how and why things were set up that way. That led me to this book.
It is well-written, and I am fully on board with the author's message. I think for anyone asking the same questions as I have laid out above, it's certainly worth the read. I cannot give it 5 stars because there were a couple of points I didn't like. 1. A Western / US bias vis-a-vis the Soviet Union and communism, which may be justified to some extent, but IMO not to the extent of the author. And 2., a little bit too much psychology for me.
In the end the author nailed it with his message - life is complex and we ought not to boil it down to simplicities, otherwise we run the risk of major conflict again. But I think he almost went against that message throughout the book by trying to formulate deep psychological analysis of all of the individuals presented. I could have lived without that part.
The book is a bit long, but it's not a difficult read, and it's mildly entertaining. I wouldn't consider it one of my favorite reads, but given what I set out to learn about, I'd say it was worthwhile.
March 7, 2020
I learned several new small pieces from this book.
For example, I'd never heard of Cho-Man sik before. Nor had I heard that originally, post-1945, a four-power united Korea, overseen by the US, USSR, Britain and China had been proposed by the Allied powers, that rebellions happened on both sides of the 38th over this, and that the Soviets arrested most moderates on their side, and killed many. While this doesn't excuse Syngman Rhee's and others' actions after South Korea and North Korea were divided (they did a lesser version of what happened in the North), it does place attempts to make North Korea look innocent or semi-innocent into yet new light. So does Lowe noting that leaders of both Koreas were heavily influenced by the Japanese occupation decades and its military authoritarianism. Sadly, moderate Koreans on both sides of the border, starting with Cho, shot themselves in the foot over refusal to accept a trusteeship set at five years. And, it's arguable that, even with their worries about this being new colonialism, the post-1945 response of most actors on both sides of the border showed it was needed.
His material on the formation of Israel is also good. Lowe doesn't ignore the Nakba, doesn't ignore Israel lies about it, but also puts the totality of Israeli actions from 1947 onward into context. Israel then wasn't close to being the USSR or Nazi Germany, and while closer today, is still far from being truly close.
The post-war stall-out in women's rights and minority rights in Western nations, but growth where it happened, and more, are all parts of this book.
For example, I'd never heard of Cho-Man sik before. Nor had I heard that originally, post-1945, a four-power united Korea, overseen by the US, USSR, Britain and China had been proposed by the Allied powers, that rebellions happened on both sides of the 38th over this, and that the Soviets arrested most moderates on their side, and killed many. While this doesn't excuse Syngman Rhee's and others' actions after South Korea and North Korea were divided (they did a lesser version of what happened in the North), it does place attempts to make North Korea look innocent or semi-innocent into yet new light. So does Lowe noting that leaders of both Koreas were heavily influenced by the Japanese occupation decades and its military authoritarianism. Sadly, moderate Koreans on both sides of the border, starting with Cho, shot themselves in the foot over refusal to accept a trusteeship set at five years. And, it's arguable that, even with their worries about this being new colonialism, the post-1945 response of most actors on both sides of the border showed it was needed.
His material on the formation of Israel is also good. Lowe doesn't ignore the Nakba, doesn't ignore Israel lies about it, but also puts the totality of Israeli actions from 1947 onward into context. Israel then wasn't close to being the USSR or Nazi Germany, and while closer today, is still far from being truly close.
The post-war stall-out in women's rights and minority rights in Western nations, but growth where it happened, and more, are all parts of this book.
November 18, 2018
Truly wonderful. Brilliantly written, clear, erudite, mind opening and very well explained statement on why we are the way we are - 70 years after WW2. I've read many books on WW2 itself and social histories looking at the impact on different groups, e g. Women, children and descendants of those serving. What this book does is take a step back from the battles and conduct of the war to looking at "What happened next?" In a sense, it took me years to step away from reading about the war to understand my grandfather and his irascible outbursts followed by a loving nature. Once I discovered his PTSD, I had been looking for a book that would explain how he survived the aftermath of war. He lived until 96, so what was it that happened afterwards that captured his attention? What kept him productive and engaged? As a master builder, he was into building things- creating something out of nothing...this book pulls the strands together at the global and regional level to highlight the thinking, theories, movements and steps taken by a post war society to rebuild, unshatter and create something new, so that the terror of war wouldn't visit them again.
March 2, 2024
3.5 - insightful, and some compelling stories told through individual's lives. Not sure I learnt much about the war and it's impact that I haven't read about elsewhere - the topics of each chapter, and their stories, could fill their own books. But the key theme repeated throughout is this: the Second World War was complex, traumatic, and paradigm changing; it still fills the lives of almost everyone living in today's international order that sprang from it.
I could argue we largely know this already - consciously in everyday life or not. It's important, however, that people still write books that remind us why this global conflict that claimed 60 million lives and traumatised countless others needs to be understood - or at least the attempt made to understand it. This is just one of those books. Definitely recommended to those less informed about the Second World War, or interested in the post-war system and developments.
I could argue we largely know this already - consciously in everyday life or not. It's important, however, that people still write books that remind us why this global conflict that claimed 60 million lives and traumatised countless others needs to be understood - or at least the attempt made to understand it. This is just one of those books. Definitely recommended to those less informed about the Second World War, or interested in the post-war system and developments.
February 5, 2018
I have already made a number of posts on this so I will make this brief. A great follow up to his prior work " Savage Continent" and Lowe has spun back-to-back winners. Very enjoyable and provocative reading, well-structured and the approach of using individual stories as a microcosm of the larger issues helps cement the connections of the trauma, aspirations, and often disappointments that followed in the wake of World War II. The linkage of events in that monumental historical drama to the present is also deftly handled. One of those books that you wish had even more chapters. An undisputed 5 rating.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews