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The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West by Niall Ferguson
aadhikari's review against another edition
3.0
Good overview of twentieth century history. Succeeds in demonstrating the scale and causes of the violence, but is unconvincing in its attempt to draw equivalence between fascism and communism.
spitzig's review against another edition
3.0
The writer writes like this was a controversial book, but I don't know why it was supposed to be. It seemed like an OK, standard history book.
danielkibsgaard's review against another edition
5.0
An enlightening read that gives the events of the 20th century an informed analysis using a very wide range of historical sources. A fantastic read I recommend to anyone who wishes to have a deeper view of our own inhumane past.
pemuth59's review against another edition
2.0
This is a book about killing. That's about it. Mostly it's about the mass extermination of humans. And the economics of killing lots and lots and lots of people. If you're interested in why people hate and kill millions of people, this might be a book for you. But there isn't even much "why" in the book. There are a lot of numbers. Pages and pages of numbers...of people...killed by the tens of thousands. There's not much else in its 646 pages.
Niall Ferguson is a well-respected historian. He looks great on TV and does some excellent documentaries. He seems like a pleasant, even brilliant man. But history, even the history of war, is not only about killing. It's about people and how they think and why they decide things. It's mostly about telling stories -- presenting dramatic narrative of events involving humans in difficult and challenging times. This book has none of those elements. You don't know anything about the people being killed. You don't learn anything about the handful of monsters doing the killing. You're just numb..and fairly bored.
Niall Ferguson is a well-respected historian. He looks great on TV and does some excellent documentaries. He seems like a pleasant, even brilliant man. But history, even the history of war, is not only about killing. It's about people and how they think and why they decide things. It's mostly about telling stories -- presenting dramatic narrative of events involving humans in difficult and challenging times. This book has none of those elements. You don't know anything about the people being killed. You don't learn anything about the handful of monsters doing the killing. You're just numb..and fairly bored.
nerdofdoom's review against another edition
4.0
Half way but too busy to go on, gonna have to catch up later. Way good though.
brakian's review against another edition
2.0
The only good thing about the book is the style: Ferguson does have a way with words. Other than that, waste of time - Germans and Japanese are bad bad bad evil baaaad, Americans and English are okay-ish, Jews are victims because entire galaxy is antisemitic. Third time I tried a book by NF, and it was not charm.
reggiewoods's review against another edition
5.0
"The War of the World" by Niall Ferguson. This is the most comprehensive history of war in the 20th century I have ever read. Ferguson delves into the motivating factors behind the worst atrocities in human history. This book is an incredibly dense read that brings a lot of new light to events we only thought we understood. The history buff and anyone curious to further understand our current geopolitical system will love this book. If you want to learn about war in the 20th century this will tell you all you need to know. Undoubt, you'll take something from it. #niallferguson #bookreview #simplebookreview