Synopsis
The collapse of Western colonial empires in the twenty years after the Second World War led to a series of vicious struggles for power - in Africa, Asia and the Middle East - whose bloody consequences haunt us still.
Acclaimed historian Michael Burleigh's brilliant analytic skills and clear eye for common themes underpins this powerful account of those conflicts. He takes us on a historical journey from Algeria to Cuba, from Malaysia to Palestine, and from Kenya to Vietnam and, in so doing, he reframes mid-twentieth-century history by forcing us to look away from the Cold War to the hot wars that continue to afflict us.
The result is a dazzling work of history, which examines the death of colonialism with passion, insight and genuine understanding of what it feels like to be caught in the middle of realpolitik.
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Reviews
“Terrific ... Burleigh writes with a keen eye for self-righteousness, hypocrisy and unintended consequences. He is quite brilliant at puncturing the vanities of history's great and good.”Dominic Sandbrook, Evening Standard
“A brilliant, complex, contradictory story, replete with character and incident, pungent and pithy and refreshingly free of preaching ... the author delights in the detail, the small moment illustrating a large truth”Ben Macintyre, The Times
“Vividly written and stimulating ... the raw truth, conveyed in scintillating language by a master of historical irony and of the grimly entertaining. If history for grown-ups is what you're after, this is it.”George Walden, Sunday Telegraph
“Burleigh is an equal opportunity moralist, not an ideologue, and he stalks his prey with feline grace ... This is a story of personalities as much as one of geopolitical shifts, and Burleigh is a master of bringing it alive with sharp character insights.”Christopher Sylvester, Financial Times
