Consequences of One Week ,Fifty Years Ago
583559
In 1953 the United States made a momentous decision.  Partially out of legitimate fear of a possible Russian takeover of the valuable Iranian Oil field, and partly as a result of incitement by British interests who sought to stubbornly maintain their imperialistic power structure, the CIA led a sinister and clandestine coup that removed the most beloved and democratic leader Iran has had in a century; Mohammend Mossadegh.

Mossadegh was replaced by the Shah Pahlavi who became so hated that a Muslim fanatical mob overthrew him in 1979.  The new theocracy, well remembering the American led coup, feared that the CIA would attempt it again. As insurance they attacked the US embassy and took 52 American hostages.

This act so infuriated the Americans that they supported Saddam Hussein's horrific war against Iran.  This led to Russia's invasion of Afghanistan, the rise of the Muslim fanatics who created the Hezbollah and Taliban, the empowerment of Saddam, the invasion of Kuwait, the attacks on the US in Beruit, Somalia, 911, and of course our current clumsy missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.

While America's awkward foreign policy proved disastrous in hindsight, the fear of communist control of Middle Eastern oil was a driving force in the 1950's.  Blame must be shared with the British Anglo-Iranian Oil Company for their greed, the British for treating the Iranians so poorly, for the Iranian Shahs who sold Iran's  concessions to fund their lavish life, and for even Mossadegh himself for becoming so blind in his justified hatred for  the British that he refused any compromise offered.

Yet while the Iranians despise the US for our intrusions into their affairs and the suffering it has caused, they still honor the American institutions of freedom and democracy.  These values are currently suppressed by the current theocracy.

Kinzer's well researched story reads like a first class spy novel.  He avoids cynicism and anti American tirades and presents the story in a balanced light.  While he does not avoid detailing the disaster we unleashed he also did not avoid the context of the anti Communist fears shared by many Americans in the 1950s.

He will make you think different about the current events in the Middle East.
3584635
Very insightful. It tells a story that we were not told in 1961. It illustrates the vast difference that can exist between events as reported in the news of the day and as interpreted from an historical perspective.
1677826
Well written and covers all of the important events of the week-end and the Monday, May 4.  This short account gives a true pictue of what happened.  I know, I was there.  It brought back memories of things that were said such as on Sunday everyone was talking about a noon rally on Monday.  Most went to class but others stayed in because of the uncertain feeling.  The account of the sniper was heard on campus but then most of us dismissed it because it would have come from Prentice hall which was a girl's dorm.
4655753
A useful reminder of the  big happenings and  big  changes in  the world history from after the  second WW to  the election of  president Obama.
Good for those  who lived through these years.
Especially valuable for the younger generation.
337701
It is a very interesting book.  It is like comparing life fifty years ago to today.  Fifty years ago we took of aging parents and grandparents where today its not like that.  It is kind of a sad commentary of our times, but it was interesting, but at times i had to push myself to continue
688539
A lot of information that makes more sense today looking back.
1901912
A fantastic recollection of information, experiences and stories from fifty plus years ago. I was fortunate to be living near where she lived, and it jogged my memory significantly as I read it, shared pictures and talked with her. A once in a lifetime journey for both of us.
3501126
There is nothing Earth shattering in this history, but it is certainly a firm history of some of the most significant changes that occurred in the 50s, of the changes in attitudes and lifestyles,  and suggests how those changes have led to the present day.
2456051
Seeing how people lived back then is a real trip. You begin to understand why things were the way they were in 1950.

It is most interesting to see a man come from humble beginnings with so many challenges and become the leader of the free world. You can see how very rare it is to make it to the Presidency. How many times his train could have derailed and he would have been happy doing something else just as well.

I will buy more David McCullough books.
4916915
A facinating and alternative perspective on a critical day in European history.
2063914
I was born in Germany in 1941, one year before the author committed suicide, possibly in dispair over the future of Europe and the Jews. We did not learn much recent history in school then. Reading this book gave me a much better understanding of that period and hopefully of current and future events. It is very unfortunate that Stefan Zweig could not see today's Europe, where his dreams of a united Europe are coming much closer to completion and where most countries get along with each other and Europeans of most countries can live in any of the other countries of the European Union. There is still more work to be done.
4548516
I was 13 when the Oak Lawn tornado came through.  The memories of it had such an impact on my life that even now, living in an area of the country that doesn't often have tornadoes, I can't live in a house without a basement.  The book is filled with photographs of the aftermath of that horrible afternoon.  In my opinion, it is an excellent account of a day that any of us who lived in the area at the time will never forget.
3599310
This book was more than fifty years ago one of the few Western classics I was able to read in my native Czechoslovakia. These books (BNW, 1984, Darkness at Noon, etc.) were instrumental in creating my persistent world view, quite incompatible with the official communist propaganda during those years. So, I wound up here in 1968 and had a wonderful life ever since.

At my old age I decided to return to the Huxley's book - I remembered only a few things, the caste system, the strange combination of words 'orgy porgy' and a few details.

I am very satisfied I read the book again. I vaguely remember that more than half century ago I most likely skipped the 'philosophical' discussions between Savage and the Controller. They are still very much relevant today - we are surely more close to the 'brave new world' now than decades ago. 1984 was a more proper image of those years and some events of the fifties were vitually described in Koestler's Darkness at Noon.

Now we are back to many issues of the consumer society satirized by Huxley by his extrapolations. We do not have the universal 'soma' but a plethora of illicit or 'prescription' drugs that keep many people in an altered state of apparent happiness.

The thirties of the last century - before Hitler's and Stalin's murderous power grabs - are bit closer to the first decade of 21st century than we may be aware of.

The only issue that is a sheer fantasy in the book is its complete determinism based on environment. Somehow, the society manages to completely (OK, with a few exceptions) determine human lives regardless of genetics, just by manipulating the vats used for gestation. This betrays a certain ideology I consider extremely unrealistic: we surely depend on the conditioning before and after our birth but our genes are as important as the environment. Heredity is mentioned in the book in passing but the whole caste system - extreme to the point of sheer fantasy - has nothing to do with it.

Interesting for an English author who grew up in a society based very much on hereditary privileges. He may have been a prototype for his Mr. Savage - rejecting his society 'values' completely.
2833066
This book is perhaps more timely today than it was when it was written for the wisdom it imports. As other reviewers note, on one level it deals with the causes that contributed to France's capitulation to the Nazis in 1940. But the insights into human nature are timeless, especially now since we've lost several wars in Afghanistan and Iraq with worse days perhaps ahead. Bloch suggests that leadership by the elderly, physically and mentally, cannot survive contact with the vigorous impulses of youth. Although he was executed by the Nazis for his role in the Resistance, he gives them begrudging credit their revolutionary notions of warfare that leapfrogged the practices and strategy of the old regime.

I suspect we're about to see history repeat itself in the youthful crowds behind Trump and Sanders, looking for a new way out. I hope they find it in the time I have left.
3682605
The book gives a rather detail discussion of the tragic events in China during WWII.  Views both from a nationalistcommunist western were presented in the context of the 1930's The China in the 1930's were very different from the China we know today, there were immense sufferimgs and sacrfice made by the people then.  In looking back and reading this book, let's hope history never repeat itself again - civil war, famine, imperialistic domination should be buried once and for all
407432
It has been quite a while and many books ago that I read this, but I remember it quite well.  It was very interesting, especially if you could recall the Cuban Missile Crisis and how unsure everyone was of the survival of our world.  We were thinking each day might be our last.  I would strongly encourage today's youth to read this, it's a great window into those times, but I think everyone would enjoy it.  It's quite suspenseful, very well written, and has an unexpected revelation at the very end.
4381964
This was a unique personal history from the first half of the 20th century.  One person who survived both Stalin and Hitler made a compelling read.