Small Wars, Far Away Places: The Genesis of the Modern World, 1945-65
Michael Burleigh
Small Wars, Far Away Places: The Genesis of the Modern World, 1945-65
The collapse of Western colonial empires after the Second World War led to any number of vicious struggles for power whose bloody consequences haunt us still. Acclaimed historian Michael Burleigh takes us on a historical journey from Palestine to Pakistan, from Cuba to Indo-China and reframes mid-20th century history by forcing us to look away from the Cold War to the hot wars that continue to afflict us.
4.4 out of 5 based on 5 reviews
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Omniscore:
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| Classification |
Non-fiction |
| Genre |
History |
| Format |
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| Pages |
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| RRP |
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| Date of Publication |
April 2013 |
| ISBN |
978-0230752320 |
| Publisher |
Macmillan |
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The collapse of Western colonial empires after the Second World War led to any number of vicious struggles for power whose bloody consequences haunt us still. Acclaimed historian Michael Burleigh takes us on a historical journey from Palestine to Pakistan, from Cuba to Indo-China and reframes mid-20th century history by forcing us to look away from the Cold War to the hot wars that continue to afflict us.
Moral Combat: A History of World War II by Michael Burleigh
Reviews
The Evening Standard
Jennifer Selway
“… the wealth of detail and the characters make this history vital and accessible ... Most books on imperialism take a lofty, moral view: the inevitability of the collapse of empire and a progression to self-rule drives the inexorable narrative. Burleigh avoids this.”
12/04/2013
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The Literary Review
Simon Heffer
“Burleigh is a fine and concise writer, but nowhere in this book does he excel himself more than in his short pen-portrait of Kennedy … [A] magnificent book”
01/04/2013
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The Sunday Telegraph
George Walden
“The relief of reading history that is not suffused with infantile Leftism, patrician liberalism or romantic patriotism is immense. Instead we get the raw truth, conveyed in scintillating language by a master of historical irony and of the grimly entertaining. If history for grown-ups is what you’re after, this is it.”
08/04/2013
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The Financial Times
Christopher Silvester
“This is a story of personalities as much as one of geopolitical shifts, and Burleigh is a master of bringing it alive with sharp character insights … The big surprise of the book is how little time Burleigh has for the notion that the British were better imperialists than other European nations.”
05/04/2013
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The Sunday Times
Piers Brendon
“...Burleigh’s judgments are sometimes a tad crude. That is not because of ignorance, for this wide-ranging book is impressively well informed, though it does say that Gandhi was incarcerated in the Aga Khan’s “insalubrious prison” in Pune — actually a palace. Rather, Burleigh seems to be instinctively truculent, the historian as partisan. Thus he is excessively critical of Churchill, Nehru and Kennedy, while overegging the case for Eisenhower ... Still, Burleigh’s presentation of the big picture is lucid and persuasive.”
14/04/2013
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