An insightful thesis on how history works, perfect for big picture buffs.
An examination of great upheavals from the past, emphasizing their common elements.
In the tradition of Paul Kennedy’s The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers (1987), University of Michigan history professor Potter delivers expert accounts of significant historical transformations, including the rise of both Christianity and Islam and the (in retrospect) ephemeral course of Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany, all of which illustrated three features: disruptive ideas that already existed in the society but in fringe movements; “repudiation” of principles of the old system; and a “group tightly organized around a charismatic leader who saw himself as creating a new political order.” Potter points out that mass misery often produces anarchy, but it takes organization to make a revolution. Thus, the teachings of Jesus sustained Rome’s Christian minority for three centuries until Constantine established it as the dominant force in the empire. Muhammad inspired fellow Arabs with revelations from God that superseded those given to Jews and Christians, but it was only after his death that Abd al-Malik bureaucratized his teachings to allow for Islam’s massive expansion. Marxists would have remained obscure 19th-century reformers if Lenin and his followers had not taken advantage of the disintegration of czarist Russia. According to Potter, the American Revolution succeeded because its chief figures, led by George Washington, knew what they wanted—not to destroy their government but to regain liberties enjoyed by earlier generations. Because its leaders lacked wide appeal and political acumen, the French Revolution succeeded only in exchanging a king for an emperor. Potter believes that today’s global retreat of democracy in favor of jingoism and autocracy is another transformation, but readers expecting to learn how this obeys his ongoing theme will be disappointed. The author holds a low opinion of both Donald Trump and Boris Johnson, noting that they lack the charisma of great leaders—although he has little doubt that they represent the wave of the future.
An insightful thesis on how history works, perfect for big picture buffs.Pub Date: July 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-19-751882-3
Page Count: 344
Publisher: Oxford Univ.
Review Posted Online: April 28, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The author's youthfulness helps to assure the inevitable comparison with the Anne Frank diary although over and above the...
Elie Wiesel spent his early years in a small Transylvanian town as one of four children.
He was the only one of the family to survive what Francois Maurois, in his introduction, calls the "human holocaust" of the persecution of the Jews, which began with the restrictions, the singularization of the yellow star, the enclosure within the ghetto, and went on to the mass deportations to the ovens of Auschwitz and Buchenwald. There are unforgettable and horrifying scenes here in this spare and sombre memoir of this experience of the hanging of a child, of his first farewell with his father who leaves him an inheritance of a knife and a spoon, and of his last goodbye at Buchenwald his father's corpse is already cold let alone the long months of survival under unconscionable conditions.
Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2006
ISBN: 0374500010
Page Count: 120
Publisher: Hill & Wang
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2006
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change.
Artist and activist Vaid-Menon demonstrates how the normativity of the gender binary represses creativity and inflicts physical and emotional violence.
The author, whose parents emigrated from India, writes about how enforcement of the gender binary begins before birth and affects people in all stages of life, with people of color being especially vulnerable due to Western conceptions of gender as binary. Gender assignments create a narrative for how a person should behave, what they are allowed to like or wear, and how they express themself. Punishment of nonconformity leads to an inseparable link between gender and shame. Vaid-Menon challenges familiar arguments against gender nonconformity, breaking them down into four categories—dismissal, inconvenience, biology, and the slippery slope (fear of the consequences of acceptance). Headers in bold font create an accessible navigation experience from one analysis to the next. The prose maintains a conversational tone that feels as intimate and vulnerable as talking with a best friend. At the same time, the author's turns of phrase in moments of deep insight ring with precision and poetry. In one reflection, they write, “the most lethal part of the human body is not the fist; it is the eye. What people see and how people see it has everything to do with power.” While this short essay speaks honestly of pain and injustice, it concludes with encouragement and an invitation into a future that celebrates transformation.
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change. (writing prompt) (Nonfiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09465-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
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