The Fear and the Freedom
How the Second World War Changed Us
Published on 29. June 2017
Book
Hardback
576 pages
978-0-670-92351-9 (ISBN)
Description
The bestselling, prize-winning author explores the impact of the Second World War - for nations, cities and families around the world.
The Second World War was one of the most catastrophic events in human history. But how did the experience and memory of bloodshed - and bonding - affect the modern world? How did fears of violence, dreams of equality, and craving for freedom and belonging affect the world, countries and communities we live in today?
The Fear and the Freedom describes and analyses a period of unprecedented geopolitical, social and economic change. The new order, as it emerged after 1945, saw the collapse of European colonialism and the birth of two new superpowers - the USA and the Soviet Union - in a new, global Cold War. Scientists delivered new technologies, beginning the nuclear age. Politicians fantasized about overhauled societies; some argued for global government, others for independence. Living standards were altered dramatically. It was a time of both terror and wonder, which resonates in the arguments about nationalism, immigration and globalisation that exist today.
As well as explaining the major changes and the myths that emerged, The Fear and the Freedom uses individual stories to reveal the philosophical and psychological impact of the war, showing how leaders and ordinary people coped with the post-war world and turned one of the greatest traumas in history into an opportunity for change. This is the definitive exploration of the aftermath of the Second World War - and the impact it still has.
The Second World War was one of the most catastrophic events in human history. But how did the experience and memory of bloodshed - and bonding - affect the modern world? How did fears of violence, dreams of equality, and craving for freedom and belonging affect the world, countries and communities we live in today?
The Fear and the Freedom describes and analyses a period of unprecedented geopolitical, social and economic change. The new order, as it emerged after 1945, saw the collapse of European colonialism and the birth of two new superpowers - the USA and the Soviet Union - in a new, global Cold War. Scientists delivered new technologies, beginning the nuclear age. Politicians fantasized about overhauled societies; some argued for global government, others for independence. Living standards were altered dramatically. It was a time of both terror and wonder, which resonates in the arguments about nationalism, immigration and globalisation that exist today.
As well as explaining the major changes and the myths that emerged, The Fear and the Freedom uses individual stories to reveal the philosophical and psychological impact of the war, showing how leaders and ordinary people coped with the post-war world and turned one of the greatest traumas in history into an opportunity for change. This is the definitive exploration of the aftermath of the Second World War - and the impact it still has.
Reviews / Votes
Richly-documented and wide-ranging . . . I wish schools would use books like this to introduce pupils to the complexity of the problems that face them -- Theodore Zeldin, author of 'The Hidden Pleasures of Life' and 'An Intimate History Of Humanity' Provocative, insightful and at times profoundly moving . . . I hope everyone - and our politicians especially - will read it and learn its vitally important lessons -- James Holland Insightful and panoramic . . . no myth goes unchallenged. Thoroughly compelling * Sunday Times * A masterpiece of historical inquiry: painstakingly researched, cleverly constructed and elegantly written. In surveying such a diverse panorama, Lowe displays a sensitivity to the human condition - how we got to where we are now - that is as unusual as it is welcome -- Saul David * Daily Telegraph * The Fear and The Freedom is a deft blend of historical research, moving interviews, and challenging psychological insights. Lowe writes with elegance and perception. A truly illuminating read -- Jonathan Dimbleby Keith Lowe has written an eloquent meditation on the aftermath and the long psychological tentacles of the Second World War. Beautifully written and profoundly perceptive, The Fear and the Freedom confirms Lowe as one of our finest historians -- Antony Beevor Magnificent...headed for much acclaim, and possibly big prizes. There is no doubting the size of Mr. Lowe's achievement. By virtue of its ambition; the variety of its content; its author's talent in giving us both "large" History and smaller and anecdotal tales; and an easy narrative resting on wide-ranging scholarship, "The Fear and the Freedom" can justly claim to be one of the best, most useful books on World War II to have emerged in the past decade. It belongs in everyone's library. -- Paul Kennedy * Wall Street Journal * Books about the causes and course of the Second World War continue to pour off the presses. Yet there are far fewer books about the world wide geopolitical, economic and personal effects of the most catastrophic event of the 20th century. So Keith Lowe's concise, lucid and highly readable book, which also includes the testimony of individual memories of the immediate years after the end of the War and their hopes of a cleansed new world of social justice and prosperity, is to be welcomed. In Lowe's opinion, the reconfiguration and realignment of nations that followed the War, led ultimately to Brexit, with Europe once again divided in a potentially dangerous and certainly disruptive way -- Juliet Gardiner This powerful book serves as a timely reminder of what our forefathers forged out of the ashes of the Second World War - an international order based on cooperation and interdependence together with a bold, fearless domestic agenda that set about creating a new society -- David Lammy Lowe's book is a compelling work of historical scholarship - but, more than that, it is an intimate portrait of how human beings carry on when their world has changed for ever -- John Gray * New Statesman * Intelligent and far-reaching . . . he blessedly forgoes the banal literalism of conventional history by considering the mythological, philosophical and psychological consequences of the war . . . Lowe brilliantly reveals how, when trapped between freedom and fear, people tether their emotional and intellectual states to world events * Financial Times * Overflowing with insights and ideas and steeped in curious and evocative detail . . . A very fine work of history -- Paul Addison * Literary Review * This is an important book, impossible to summarise, profound in its humanity, bold in its confrontation of sacred myths * The Herald * Ceaselessly insightful, this masterpiece of historical inquiry - the fruit of five years' labour - dissects the impact of the war on society, politics, urban planning and much else besides * Sunday Telegraph * Few historians could be better placed to investigate this subject than Keith Lowe . . . riveting * Evening Standard * Grimly absorbing, conveys the pity of war with integrity and proper sympathy -- Ian Thomson on 'Savage Continent' * Sunday Telegraph * Compelling, startling and gripping. The definitive account of a great tragedy -- A.C. Grayling on 'Inferno' A real triumph: shocking, yet sensitive and supremely fair-minded. This is a wonderful book about hellish events -- Richard Holmes on 'Inferno' The story of that hellish summer night is one Lowe tells well, unblinkingly, exactly as he should... a tour de force -- Sunday Times on 'Inferno' Moving, measured and provocative -- Dominic Sandbrook on 'Savage Continent' * Sunday Times * Admirable, impeccably researched and engagingly written...deserves its place on the shelves -- Daily Telegraph on 'Inferno' Graphic and chilling. This excellent book paints a little-known and frightening picture of a continent in the embrace of lawlessness and chaos -- Ian Kershaw on 'Savage Continent'More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Penguin Books Ltd
Illustrations
24 pp b&w
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 162 mm
Thickness: 39 mm
Weight
801 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-670-92351-9 (9780670923519)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
06/2017
1st Edition
Penguin Books Ltd
€9.49
Available for download
Person
Keith Lowe is widely recognized as a leading authority on the Second World War. He is the author of Inferno: The Devastation of Hamburg, 1943 and Savage Continent, which was a Sunday Times top ten bestseller and won the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize. He has spoken often on television and radio, both in Britain and the United States, and his books have been translated into 20 languages. He lives in north London with his wife and two children.