The book makes vivid humankind s innate darkness and makes war painful again. The pity of war in the pity of war author niall ferguson takes on three primary objectives. World war i, he says after spending 462 pages explaining its origins, calculating its consequences and busting the commonly held myths that it was unavoidable or the result of warcrazed german militarists was not a tragedy. Explaining world war i, a nonfiction book by niall ferguson. The book makes vivid humankinds innate darkness and makes war painful again. Read and discuss war and peace with yiyun li and a public space. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. Explaining world war one, which with the help of research assistants he was able to write in just five months. He tries to explain the origins of wwi, arguing that german paranoia of encirclement, a disparity of domestic financial constraints among european powers, and british miscalculations of germanys longterm interests were among the primary catalysts of the outbreak of war in august 1914. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. He was also the author of a 1961 book, the donkeys, which was a history of the british general staff in the first world war. Editor philip has chosen poems that speak of the horror of war, not the glory. At the outset, young anton hofmiller commits a terrible social gaffe by asking the crippled daughter of a local noble to dance, and it is in saving face that he embarks on a journey of pity, honor, and obligation.
But the pity of war is more than a bunch of wild whatifs. Nor is it about deeds or lands, nor anything about glory, honour, dominion or power, except war. Title of a book, article or other published item this will display to the public. Kennan named the seminal catastrophe of the 20th century. As such it is immensely readable, well researched, and controversial. Drawing on this rich scholarship, niall ferguson, a fellow of jesus college, oxford, has produced an illuminating synthesis of current knowledge on the war. The first world war killed around eight million men and bled europe dry. More than any other event, it made the twentieth century. Since 2003 he has written and presented three highly successful television documentary series for channel four. He argues that the fatal conflict between britain and germany was far from inevitable. Banned in lebanon itself, the first edition of pity the nation ended with close friend and colleague terry anderson still being held by islamic jihad.
Dear friends, in these unsettled times, like many of you i have been looking for substance in my bookcase. If someone less distinguished than jesus college, oxford, fellow niall ferguson had written the pity of war, you could be forgiven for thinking the book was out for a few cheap headlines by contradicting almost every accepted orthodoxy about the first world war. The pity of war december 1998 edition open library. Wilfred owen wrote these words in the context of poetry having to deal with a new subject mass warfare, rather than the birds. Beware of pity is a great psychological portrait of an officer in the austrian army, right before the outbreak of the great war. In the pity of war, niall ferguson makes a simple and provocative. The pity of war makes a simple and provocative argument. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read the pity of war.
Ungeduld des herzens, literally the hearts impatience is a 1939 novel by the austrian writer stefan zweig. Jul 15, 2011 famous for his novellas, popular histories and biographies, stefan zweig wrote only one novel, beware of pity. David simpson, university of california, davis war of no pity mounts a bold challenge to standard postcolonial interpretations of victorian imperial culture. Britain, according to ferguson, entered into war based on nave assumptions of german aimsand englands entry into the war transformed a continental conflict into a world war, which they then badly mishandled, necessitating. It also appears in his poem strange meeting, included in that volume. The bestselling author of paper and iron, the house of rothschild, the pity of war, the cash nexus, empire and colossus, he also writes regularly for newspapers and magazines all over the world. Even months after hostilities had commenced, everyone was still writing as they had before. Lets start with the shocking conclusion of niall fergusons readable and provocative history book. One of my core arguments is that britain should have stayed out of the first world war. It was adapted into a 1946 film of the same title, directed by maurice elvey. Other authors commented on how his book challenged the. Fergusons book leaves many questions open about the causes of the first world war and whether germany fought a preemptive or preventive war. An anthology of more than 70 poems inspired by the horror and heroism of war, illustrated with striking scratchboard drawings. You may not end up agreeing with all of fergusons arguments, but that should not deter you from reading it.
The reader will find plenty of fresh information and challenging ideas on the conflicts most important aspects. Explaining world war i by niall ferguson goodreads. Mar 26, 2009 buy the pity of war new ed by ferguson, niall isbn. Best of all, if after reading an e book, you buy a paper version of the pity of war. According to niall ferguson, england entered into war based on naive assumptions of german aims, thereby transforming a continental conflict into a world war, which it then badly. Britain, according to ferguson, entered into war based on naive assumptions of german aims. British historian ferguson has written a multipronged revisionist onslaught that pins most of the blame on britains support of france. The book makes vivid humankinds innate darkness and makes war painful. The pity of war by niall ferguson 2000 not even past. If someone less distinguished than jesus college, oxford, fellow niall ferguson had written the pity of war, you could be forgiven for thinking the book was out for. Apr 18, 2020 but the idea that this has a bearing on the pity of war also expressed by r.
Niall fergusons the pity of war examines the great war from a myriad of unexpected angles. The indian mutiny and victorian trauma that, in great and significant detail, does away with as many presuppositions as possible. As he observes, those sections of the book which deal with the economic history of the war present a case which is at variance with that offered by many scholars including my own. It was britains declaration of war that needlessly turned a continental conflict into a world war, and it was britains economic mismanagement and military inferiority that necessitated. In it, ferguson discusses the causes and the consequences of the first world war. It is a very ambitious undertaking which niall ferguson attempts with his book the pity of war, not so much to give yet another account of the first world war but rather to offer a reinterpretation of various results of historical research into what george f. The pity of war makes one very simple and provocative argument. Click download or read online button to get the pity of war book now. Buy the pity of war new ed by ferguson, niall isbn. Half of a yellow sun is a masterpiece in balancing truth.
Dec 11, 2016 in that, it was not intentionally the war to make the world safe for democracy. In the pity of war, niall ferguson makes a simple and provocative argument. Through painstakingly close reading of an impressive array of both familiar and relatively unknown texts, and with vigorous writing, christopher herbert takes on a. The pity of war, with no pretensions to offering a grand narrative of the war, goes over its chosen questions like a polemical tract. At the same time, a century of economic advances was destroyed by the destruction of the war, and fergusons commentary shows that the nations that had the strongest economic growth were often the nations that suffered the most during the war. From a bestselling historian, a daringly revisionist history of world war ithe pity of war makes a simple and provocative argument. The book s main preoccupation is the israeli invasion of the early 1980s and its terrible aftermath, including the appalling massacre of palestinians at the shabra and chatila camps. The pity of war may not be a total history, but the reader will find plenty of fresh information and challenging ideas on the conflicts most important aspects. About the book in the pity of war, niall ferguson explodes the myths of 191418.
Many readers will disagree with oxford historian fergusons paper and iron daring revisionist account of the great war as presented in this superbly illustrated book, but none will be bored by his e. An explosive and argumentative new book that rewrites our most basic assumptions about the causes and consequences of the first world war. In this way, among others, the oxford historian niall fergusons the pity of war is a very british book. Nicholas lezard on a study of nostalgia and disillusionment.
Britain, according to ferguson, entered into war based on naive assumptions of german aimsand englands entry into the war transformed a continental conflict into a world war, which they then badly mishandled. Explaining world war i and his efforts to reimagine and analyze the problems of the war. Research would have to show that britain, france, and russia were planning andor carrying out plans to attack germany in order to validate fergusons argument for preemptive war. After finishing the book, the reader will realize that its subtitle, explaining world war i, is far more clever than it appears at first glance. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read pity the nation. The controversial revisionist history of world war i that made niall fergusons name the first world war killed around eight million men and bled europe dry. Presents an illustrated collection of poems about the waste, horror, and futility of war as well as the nobility, courage, and sacrifice of individuals in wartime. The pity of war by niall ferguson penguin books australia. Can you summarize niall fergusons views in chapter 14 of the pity of war. Where earlier critics find only smugness and arrogance, he uncovers in addition to the smugness and arrogance genuine doubt and anguishas well as a selfawareness and capacity for self.
Ferguson argues that britain was as much to blame for the start of the war as germany, and that, had britain sacrificed belgium to. What then has niall ferguson produced in his book the pity of war. According to niall ferguson, england entered into war based on naive assumptions of german aims, thereby transforming a continental conflict into a world war, which it then badly mishandled, necessitating american involvement. As the 20th century draws to a close, ferguson modem historyoxford univ the house of rothschild, 1998 renders a brilliant reassessment of one of the centurys most farreaching and tragic wars, the first world war. The pity of war download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi. Explaining world war i is not a chronological account of the war, but rather he has attacked this work by asking, and then analytically answering, a series of questions. Ferguson set out in his book to answer 10 serious questions from was it inevitable. Fergusons chapter concerning the role which the media took in shaping the nature of the war is especially interesting. This is an analytic account of what ferguson considered to be the ten great myths of the great war.
The first known use of the phrase the pity of war was by wilfred owen in 1918, in the preface to his collected poems. Explaining world war i ebook written by niall ferguson. First published in great britain by allen lane, 1998. The title came from a famous comment that had supposedly been made at. Before the great war there was no war poetry as we now conceive the term instead there was martial verse. At the beginning of this chapter, which is the concluding chapter in this book. He scrutinizes in depth the propaganda war, the often draconian suppression of dissent in the belligerent countries, the soldiers diverse and often banal motives for fighting, and shifting combatant attitudes toward surrender, which, he asserts, was a risky act, since both sides routinely killed surrendering men. War of no pity seeks to rescue mutiny writing from such condescension by reading it with an attention that, in herberts view, it has seldom received. The pity of war is a 1998 nonfictional, historical book written by british historian niall ferguson. The pity of war offers not quite a history of the first world war, but rather a history of great britain and the first world war. Beware of pity by stefan zweig goodreads share book. A most impressive study of colonial relations and india is christopher herberts war of no pity. Does the electronic version of the book completely replace the paper version. Read the book on paper it is quite a powerful experience.
Starting march 18, join us for a free virtual book cluba moment each day when we can gather together as a community. Ferguson argues that britain was as much to blame for the start of the war as germany, and that, had britain sacrificed belgium to germany, the 1917 bolshevik revolution. The truth the book tells is about the horror and the pity of war. Previously, he was a professor at harvard university and new york university, visiting professor at new college of the humanities and senior research fellow at jesus college, oxford. It was britains declaration of war that needlessly turned a continental conflict into a.
In this boldly conceived book and provocative, aimed to appeal not only to students but also to the general reader, niall ferguson explodes many of the myths surrounding the war. Britain, according to ferguson, entered into war based on. But the idea that this has a bearing on the pity of war also expressed by r. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. In the introduction to his book, ferguson names ten questions which he wants to deal with. One of the most influential of all british books on the subject of future war argued that the consequences would be so economically. This massive investigation into world war i is not just another eloquent indictment of a tragedy that killed millions, destroyed europes international status, and opened the way to an even more horrible war. This moving and thoughtprovoking anthology brings together more t. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them.
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