Scan barcode
A review by pemuth59
The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West by Niall Ferguson
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.