A different perspective of history
935572
Interesting read..but a bit of a slanted view of history. Perhaps not so much off the mark. I enjoyed reading this offering.
4495376
"I am skeptical about the idea that we can learn much from history, at least in the sense that knowledge of past follies will prevent us from making similar blunders in the future...  And yet it is important to know what happened before, and to try and make sense of it.  For if we don't, we cannot understand our own times."

I was surprised to see such a statement at the beginning of a book about history.  We often think 'those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it,' and yet it seems pretty obvious we're not learning the lessons history teaches.  To see it put so profoundly in writing was a pleasant affirmation, for me at least.  And making some sense of what happened seems to be a recurrent theme here.

The world was a very different place after the Second World War.  Not only had the conflict touched so many places around the globe, but news of the atrocities committed deeply shocked and embarrassed people.  Some had cause to celebrate and others to fear and mourn.  Cities lay in ruins and people were starving.  Governments were changed - not just in Germany and Japan - but all of Continental Europe and most of Asia, and the United Nations was created.  Buruma looks around the world and catalogs what happened by topic: hunger, revenge, displaced persons, what became of collaborators, reeducation, and sex (not just rape but also prostitution, which was sometimes for profit and sometimes to feed starving children).  It's not always a celebratory view with the victors, but also a detailing of the suffering and uncertainty of those whose lives had been upended by such a world-wide calamity.

And yet, in spite of the often dismal history it recounts, Buruma does a fascinating job of telling the story and showing all sides such that you gain a better understanding of the time and place.  His judgments are always tempered by an explanation of the conditions and why things happened the way they did - right or wrong - and is a more balanced and global view than&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Bitter-Road-to-Freedom-A-New-History-of-the-Liberation-of-Europe/dp/B002ECEEOA/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Bitter Road to Freedom: A New History of the Liberation of Europe</a>.  And while this is ostensibly "a history of 1945," Buruma allows for expansion where appropriate and necessary.  The narrative is replete with individual stories of those who lived it, as well as that of his own father who was forced into labor by the Germans, and serves to personalize the tragedy in small ways.  I found it to be a sobering yet worthwhile account, and yet it not only helps to make sense of the world that was built on the ruins, but sometimes I think I see even more modern parallels.
766835
Interesting from an historic point of view. Didn't think the ideas hung together as well as I would have liked. Maybe I'll read it again another time in another mood and I'll see better why it was recommended to me.
4148262
Enjoyed the historical perspective and the effect man has had on this planet over time.
305391
It's very different writing style...an interesting look into a strong woman's history in a different era.
3089468
This writer has taken a different view of Lincoln and his bouts of depression. The use of historical figures and the interesting idea that he may have instigated his own death combine to provide and interesting and unique tale.
1211224
My understanding of American history was weak before reading this book.  Mainly, I had only been taught the history that our rulers have disseminated in our public schools.  That is not my history, however.  That which Howard Zinn wrote in this book is.

A People's History is self-explanatory.  American history from the people's perspective: The discovery of America from the perspectives of the Native Americans who were already here, slavery from the perspective of the slaves, the fight for women's suffrage from women, the fight for workers rights from the maltreated workers.

If you are not one of the ruling elite, this book is the history of your people.  If you are a jingo, this is probably still you're history, and I wish you'd embrace it.  However, humans can be stubborn.

Cheers to Howard Zinn and the first American history book I came across worth the paper it's printed on.
3552507
A very interesting, seldom thought of, perspective on one of the greatest events in world history.
2080805
If you want to know the missing part of your history, here is another taste from different point of views.
694474
Wonderful book from a great perspective on an interesting time.
2950110
Juan Gonzalez gives readers the opportunity to look at history of North America with a perspective other than the one that has dominated in public school U.S. history classes for far too long.
784790
This book starts off slow but picks up speed, very enjoyable read. I also found the historical concept presented in this book as quite interesting, definitely a different take on history.
2831788
This book will give you a scholarly and new idea of what that time was in the whole region.
Not always easy to read, but worth it.
4802550
This book reflects a lot of research, knowledge and work to put it together. A different view of history, in this book the focus is on battles. This book might appeal to people who don't like history. The maps are helpful.
102791
I have read a lot of WW2 fiction and non-fiction, most all of which has been from the perspective of looking at the horrors inflicted by Hitler and the Nazis.  This was different in that it is written from the perspective of Germans.
411424
This is a different style of history.  It reads more like and historical novel, where the characters are more important than the actions of the military.  It gives you the story from the perspective of the people who fought on the side of the Republic.  Between 1936 and 1939 more than one hundred thousand volunteers poured into Republican Spain to try and stop the Nationalist troops under Franco.

People who are familiar with the war have heard the stories about Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gelhorn, but most don't know that George Orwell, and John Dos Passos also fought on the side of the Republic.  Both Pablo Picasso and Joan Miro created world famous paintings for the 1937 Spanish Pavilion at the Paris Worlds Fair.

But it was the men who fought in the International Brigades (IB) and the doctors and nurses who worked in the 24 IB hospitals that really made a difference.  During the war they devised the first mobile blood bank, the use of triage in emergency situations and remarkable new ways of treating wounds from shrapnel and bullets.  The soldiers of the IB stopped the first attempt by Franco to take Madrid.

On the fascist side the Germans were able to try out new theories of war, such as the use of carpet bombing to destroy cities and the morale of the people in them.  They were also able to try out many new weapons, most of which they later used in the blitzkrieg that helped them conquer most of Western Europe and large chunks of the Soviet Union.

For the Soviet Union, it was their first try at creating a communist state outside of eastern Europe.  Their destruction of their anarchist and republican allies in battles in Barcelona was one of the reasons that the Republicans lost the war.  But for Stalin and company it was a lesson they would apply to Eastern Europe after World War Two.

For anyone who likes to read about war from the viewpoint of the soldiers and civilians who lived through it, this is the book for you.

Zeb Kantrowitz  zworstblog.blogspot.com
971083
A powerful discussion of American History from the perspective of "ordinary people" and groups NOT in power. This book also demonstrates how policies from the earliest days impact thoughts and behavior even now in the mid-2,000's. There is a very different perspective on history and what most of us learned in school. Will be disturbing, thought provoking, controversial and prod most to some type of action in making sure America lives up to her potential.