There can come a point in a reader’s life when the span of that life becomes history. Ian Kershaw’s (A life in writing: Ian Kershaw | History books | The Guardian and Ian Kershaw – Wikipedia) book ‘The Global Age’ covers the period 1950-2017, a time span that many will remember in retrospect.
The long shadow of The Second World War lingered over the second half of the twentieth century. By comparison with the horrors and destruction of the two world wars in the first half, it was a time of relative peace and prosperity in Europe. Those of us who have lived through this time have been lucky.
Nevertheless, humans have now to live with nuclear weapons, globalization, climate change, religious terrorism, environmental degradation and vicious dictatorships which still exist on the planet.
In Kershaw’s telling of this period he charts “a story of twists and turns, ups and downs”, an unending rollercoaster of change and uncertainty. We are given all the detail about the political ‘clamp’ of the Soviet Union, the energy and desire for change among young people, and the industrial unrest of the 1970s. The author is able to explain the disruptive effects of migration and new technologies, that with prosperity came inequality, division with diversity and losers with winners. It’s acknowledged we’re now in a period where parents can’t assume their children will enjoy a better life than theirs. A whole generation of young people is resigned to renting property, having abandoned the dream of home ownership.
Kershaw also discusses the nation state, suggesting it’s unlikely these entities will melt away. Stresses within The European Union are already evident.
Combining a broad sweep with an impressive command of detail, this history of Europe 1950-2017 comes highly recommended.
Check if this most recent title in The Penguin History of Europe (The Penguin History of Europe) is in stock at your local library here Home | South Lanarkshire Libraries (sllclibrary.co.uk)
669 pages in Viking Press
First published 2018
ISBN-13 : 978-0735223981
