A review by bibliobethreads
Stranger Than We Can Imagine: Making Sense of the Twentieth Century, by John Higgs
3.0
First of all, a huge thank you to New Books Magazine and www.nudge.com for providing me with a copy of this book in return for an honest review. When I first read the synopsis for John Higgs' fascinating narrative about the twentieth and early twenty-first century I was instantly intrigued and had to know more. What I found within the brilliantly concise chapters was both interesting and highly educational with a dash of humour on the side and I really feel I've learned a lot about subjects I had previous little or no knowledge about.
The author takes a variety of different topics - with chapter headings such as Modernism, War, Individualism, and Uncertainty to name just a few and takes the reader on an epic journey to discover why exactly the twentieth century was so pivotal. Although I still have to admit to being none the wiser about Einstein's theory of relativity, I count that as my own personal demon as Higgs explains theories, ideas and notions in a very down to earth and comprehensible fashion that will instantly make you want to go out and do further research of your own into certain topics.
Personally speaking, I've always been fascinated by psychology and the author's chapter on the "id," Freud's model of our basic human instincts was a joy to read. However, there are so many other examples of interesting subjects that I'm certain every reader will find something meaningful and informative to connect with. For example, did you know that the author H.G. Wells predicted machines that could fly, wars fought in the air, fascist dictatorships and even the European Union? Or that the term "genocide" was only coined in 1944 to describe "a deliberate attempt to exterminate an entire race?" The word hadn't even existed before then!
As a piece of non-fiction, this book ticks all the right boxes for me. It's insightful, holds your interest with short, snappy chapters that get over what the author wants to say in perfect fashion and is a unique way of looking at certain concepts that are not really covered in other works. I didn't connect with every single chapter but then again, I didn't really expect to, everyone is different in their own personal interests. However, I did find it a solid, brilliant piece of writing that taught me much more than I could have expected.
For my full review and many more please visit my blog at http://www.bibliobeth.com
The author takes a variety of different topics - with chapter headings such as Modernism, War, Individualism, and Uncertainty to name just a few and takes the reader on an epic journey to discover why exactly the twentieth century was so pivotal. Although I still have to admit to being none the wiser about Einstein's theory of relativity, I count that as my own personal demon as Higgs explains theories, ideas and notions in a very down to earth and comprehensible fashion that will instantly make you want to go out and do further research of your own into certain topics.
Personally speaking, I've always been fascinated by psychology and the author's chapter on the "id," Freud's model of our basic human instincts was a joy to read. However, there are so many other examples of interesting subjects that I'm certain every reader will find something meaningful and informative to connect with. For example, did you know that the author H.G. Wells predicted machines that could fly, wars fought in the air, fascist dictatorships and even the European Union? Or that the term "genocide" was only coined in 1944 to describe "a deliberate attempt to exterminate an entire race?" The word hadn't even existed before then!
As a piece of non-fiction, this book ticks all the right boxes for me. It's insightful, holds your interest with short, snappy chapters that get over what the author wants to say in perfect fashion and is a unique way of looking at certain concepts that are not really covered in other works. I didn't connect with every single chapter but then again, I didn't really expect to, everyone is different in their own personal interests. However, I did find it a solid, brilliant piece of writing that taught me much more than I could have expected.
For my full review and many more please visit my blog at http://www.bibliobeth.com