The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West

by Niall Ferguson
The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West
book data
124 ratings, 4.04 average rating, 32 reviews (more data...)
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published
September 21st 2006 by Penguin Press HC, The

binding
Hardcover, 808 pages

isbn
1594201005   (isbn13: 9781594201004)

description
Niall Fergusson's most important book to date-a revolutionary reinterpretation of the modern era that resolves its central paradox: why unprecedented ...more






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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 244)



Chris
Chris rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
01/19/08

Read in December, 2007
This is the first book by Ferguson that I've read. I was pleased with this effort--it was well-researched, and although it covers material amply familiar to any 20th century history buff, it was engaging not only because of Ferguson's fluid style but also because of his unconventional take on the causes and dynamics of human conflict and cruelty. You may or may not agree with some of his interpretations but he makes convincing arguments which make one want to research the topic in greater depth...more
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Curtis
Read in January, 2008
recommends it for: Historians Political Scientists General Public
OK today I have the time to follow up on this book. This is a bit off the cuff but for those undergraduates of you who didn't read it until the day before you were assigned to speak in front of the class it will give you some nuggets to work with.

Firstly the author Mr. Furguson has a penchant for writing what one might almost call big history that is looking beyond the titles we find convenient when analyzing say the 20s or the 30s or even World Wars One and Two. This author may delve into...more
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Zachary
Zachary rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
07/23/07

bookshelves: nonfiction
Read in July, 2007
recommends it for: History majors, Political Science majors.
In this book distinguished scholar Niall Ferguson asks the question, "Why was the Twentieth Century the most violent in history?". His case studies vary from the Armenian Genocide to the Holocaust and the Rape of Nanking. He concludes that the borders of Empires in decline or rise act like tectonic plates, generating tension which can explode into horribly violent wars or atrocities, particularly during times of economic volatility. Ethnic tensions can also get caught up in this great...more
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Danjo
Danjo rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
03/08/08

Read in March, 2008
War of the World served very well as an introduction to the first half of the last century, specifically from the standpoint of conflict and genocide. The prevalence, origin, and supporting conditions of ethnic cleansing were very plainly laid out, serving as a clear framework around which to build a Historical outlook.

The sections on the Russian Revolution and Stalinist Russia, and World War I were particularly enlightening. WWII was also covered in depth, but I found those topics a rev...more
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Dave
Dave rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
02/12/08

Read in February, 2008
The central premise of Niall Ferguson's latest tome is that the 20th century marked a "fundamental reorientation of the world," by which he means that the west is no longer running the show. Two bloody wars resulted in the loss of Europe's empires, and the consequent rise of the east. With muslims filling the population vacuum in fast-aging European countries, the dividing line between east and west runs through every European city. Ferguson, I must say, is a little bit of a Downer Deb...more
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Tim
Tim rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
02/19/08

bookshelves: history, politics
Read in February, 2008
recommends it for: those interested in the world wars
I highly anticipated this book, chiefly because I have found Ferguson's writing quite engaging and insightful in the past. The Pity of War was particularly good. The War of the World incorporates material from his book on World War I, expanding on his conclusions there and projecting them forward to encompass armed conflict in the twentieth century as a whole. Despite the book's title, the vast majority of its nearly seven hundred pages dwell on World War II, which is essentially t...more
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Dave
Dave rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
11/10/07

bookshelves: history
Read in October, 2007
recommends it for: anyone looking for a decent overview of WWI and WWII.
I started becoming seriously interested in WWII when I visited the Holocaust museum in Washington, D.C. this past March. The visit made me ask the usual questions. How could this happen? What drove this level of systematic violence? And why did the rest of the world turn their backs?

As it turns out, when the rest of the world weren't turning their backs, they were more often than not collaborating in the process. Russia, for instance, a key WWII ally, killed thousands, if not millions o...more
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Jason
Jason rated it: 3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars
01/23/08

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in January, 2008
recommends it for: People who like Stats
What I like best about this book is how fiction is used to describe the 20th century. Authors like Tolkien, Wells, etc. sum up the crazyness of the last 100 years. Another thing good about this book is its lack of categorizing World War I as World War I and the same with WWII. Instead a theme of steady conflict and no clear winners is more accurate.

What I don't like about this book is the main point that the 20th century was the bloodiest of all the centuries in absolute and relative meas...more
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Ron
Ron added it
12/22/07

Read in July, 2007
This was as good of a break-down of how this historian views the 20th century. and his views are interesting... he never really goes back to it later, but he starts the book by talking a bit about modern china and comparing it a bit to the West, just dry demographic information that lays out this daunting case that the West is puny and played-out compared to the might East. beyond the intro, he doesn't really emphasize this explicitly, but his thesis is basically that the 20th century, when hi...more
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Matt
Matt rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
11/10/08

The explanations that we learn in high school for history's most horrible events tend to remain with us unchanged, unless we really look deep. Ferguson challenges many of the assumptions about the causes of the 20th Century's dreadful violence and is convincing. Living in Jerusalem, I've often seen how conventional wisdom about the persistent violence of the Middle East seems to miss the mark. That only makes me more convinced that Ferguson is right in refusing to accept the reasons advanced by ...more
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Cibeles
Cibeles marked it as to-read (review of isbn 0713997087)
11/23/08

bookshelves: to-read
I saw the documentary series in Channel 4 and I've already heard of this author before. It looks like a terrific and very interesting book for anyone interested in history and politics
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Andrew
Andrew rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
11/27/08

Vast research on the origins, idiosyncrasies, and parallels, of 20th century conflict.
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Arnold
Arnold rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
12/12/07

bookshelves: history
Niall Ferguson is Scottish, lives in Oxford and is a Professor of International History at Oxford, Harvard and Stamford. But don't worry he has a stunning writing style getting across the facts and his sometimes outrageous interpretations of these factors to even the non-scholastic reader. Controversial to put it mildly and provactive in the extreme his universal appeal is shown by this his latest book becoming a global best seller and his TV series of the book has also ben a rceent global hit. ...more
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lisa
lisa marked it as to-read
06/18/07

bookshelves: to-read
recommends it for: world history political science buffs
i love niall furguson. EMPIRE was about the rise and fall of the brit empire through the colonial period, offered new and interesting parallels to the american experience as post-industrial lone superpower. COLLOSUS was about the American experience of disengagement and engagement in world affairs, with an eye toward maintaining US preeminence (which is interesting, because he's a brit). he's latest book is a certifiable TOME. I am gearing up for it. his focus on conflicts should be interest...more
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Quannah
Quannah rated it: 4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars
07/16/08

Read in January, 2007
An excellent book about the Second World War and the background leading up to the war. Ferguson's a very good writer and, although I grew tired of the graphs and charts within the book, the information concerning race and ethnicity were enlightening.

While I don't necessarily subscribe to all of Ferguson's theories, I thought this book was well-researched and well-written.

As an aside, I see that a documentary based on this book is airing on PBS. It will be interesting to see.
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Johnny
Johnny rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
05/09/07

recommends it for: historians, State Dept. types
Ferguson makes a compelling arguement that war is at its most brutal when the battle lines cross ethnic boundaries. The modern man regresses and begins a program of exterminating his former neighbors. Ferguson concentrates on the downfall of Western Europe during the Second World War and continues his argument into the Far East.

His conclusions are a chilling signpost for the Middle East in general and Iraq in particular.
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Aaron
Aaron rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
03/24/08

The first quarter of this book really only warrants three stars, but the rest more than makes up for it. Penetrating analysis of the Nazi, Soviet, and Japanese regimes, and why they turned to the persecution of foreigners. Includes a great chapter weighing the moral and practical aspects of total city destruction caused by American and British bombing.
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Ryan
Ryan rated it: 2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars
08/18/07

Well written, but Ferguson never really gets around to the "descent of the West" part of the book. The story is mostly a boiled down account of the first half of the 20th century with less than novel emphasis on the idea that much of the conflict was in fact ethnically driven and that even the victors did not come away from the era with clean hands.
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Shelly
02/08/08

Read in December, 2007
This book has added so much to my understanding of conflict around the world over the last century. Focused on World Wars I and II it tells a story that never ends of Mans inhumanity towards others who are seen as inferior or alien. It's a geat book but really scary to think that we never really learn tolerance and acceptance.
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Ethan
Ethan rated it: 5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
07/14/07

bookshelves: 2007
Read in July, 2007
The absence of irrelevant details made it easy to coast through this 700 pager. Touching briefly on events leading up to and following WWII, Fergeson devotes the majority of the book to the unforgivable cruelties of the war and how this misbehavior by all involved is leading to the decline and possible destruction of modern society.
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THE WAR OF THE WORLD (SOFTCOVER)
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