Michael Burleigh

A really fruitful account of various wars and conflicts, small and big, in the post-war period all around the world. It is thus a useful compendium of events that are usually not dealt with in mainstream histories, as they concern individual small nations or corners of the world. Included are accounts of such obscure items as the Malayan insurgency, the terror in Kenya, the French colonies in North Africa, the insurgency in Indonesia, and so on. Of course it also includes major issues like Cuba and Vietnam. As far as the subcontinent goes, it has a racy account of US-India relations (or the lack of them) and the abject about-face by India after the Chinese incursion in the northeast. It is difficult to fault most of the author's assessments, although his contemptuous dismissal of major figures may be sometimes startling. To know more, read the book!… (mais)

It took me a while to get through this 965-page book, but it was worth it. This book is a very detailed history of the Nazi Regime, starting with Hitler's violent path to becoming Germany's dictator and continuing through the transformation of a country struggling to recover from The Great War to the dehumanized killing machine it became. It gives a thoroughly horrifying account of the atrocities of the war itself. Also, it provides theories and political analysis of the personal and international agendas that propelled the world into this epic shit storm. It's incomprehensible to imagine one man's hate-filled vision could persuade an entire country to exterminate another race, but it is even more sickening that it happened. Hitler and the Nazis were evil and caused millions and millions of innocents to die. They will be a stain on our history forever, one, I hope, is never repeated.… (mais)