Despite its puzzlingly hideous appearance, this is an excellent book. Subtitled ‘Reflections on the History of the Twentieth Century’, it consists of 18 chapters being, with one exception, the texts of lectures given by Professor Howard between 1991 and 2003. It is not easy to craft a good lecture that reads well on the page, or vice versa for that matter; it is a trick that Sir Michael brings off brilliantly.
The introductory section gives us a lucid reminder of how the process of Enlightenment that began in the 18th century created freedoms, admittedly, but uncertainties too, uncertainties that created the conditions for a century of conflict.
Later sections cover what the author calls the German Wars, the Cold War, Europe after the Cold War, and ‘the War against Terror’, in inverted commas because he rightly argues that terrorism is not overcome by fighting a war. This last section, not the stuff of the 20th century, is perhaps cheating a little, but when it comes to understanding the continuum of uncertainties, the liberty is entirely justified.
Despite first impressions, this book is not about fighting. It is about causes and consequences; it is about politics, philosophy and culture. It is immensely readable; the professor has a remarkable talent for making difficult concepts and complex circumstances accessible even to the most cloth-eared of readers without a trace of condescension. He refers, for example, to Mein Kampf. This reminded me that a Berlin friend once showed me a copy that his father, a U-boat captain, had been required to carry during his forays into the Atlantic. This inspired me to read it. Too frequent recourse to the dictionary, the density of the prose and the lack of pictures quickly extinguished my enthusiasm.
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