A deft narrative touch. ( )

A breathtaking book that covers major historical events/trends from the twenties to the eighties. Paul Johnson manages somehow to tie everything together and present it in a package that makes sense and is a terrific read. It's not for the faint of heart however, each page is densely packed with information that takes terribly long to digest, but the effort is well worth it. ( )

"Throughout these years, the power of the state to do evil expanded with awesome speed. It's power to do good grew slowly and ambiguously,"
---Paul Johnson

Sounds like a 'fun' read...

A brilliant work of history. Paul Johnson - even if you do not agree with his worldview - is a great writer, and has a pretty solid command of European certainly, and also world history. He is a right-of-centre humanist. His book rails against relative moral values and against the monstrous destruction of human life wrought throughout the 20th century by big governments bent on reforming mankind. Although largely a pessimistic book, it does leave sufficient room for optimism that we - mankind - can survive and indeed do better.
The emphasis throughout on right and wrong is a useful antidote to life in the 21st century, I must say. ( )

1/28/23