Rate this book

1945 - Biografie Van Een Jaar (2013)

by Ian Buruma(Favorite Author)

3.85 of 5 Votes: 3

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Atlas Contact

review 1: I heard Buruma talk engagingly at the Sydney Writers Festival this year and bought the hardback.It is important to see that Buruma is covering the world stage, this book is not just about the devastation in Europe. Some reviewers have missed this point. That said, in a book of manageable size, he does emphasise China, Japan, Russia and European countries. There will be many opinions on how well he has achieved an appropriate balance.The general thesis of the book is important and I would hope is widely understood. Having been born a couple of years after the year in question in Britain, I can concur with Buruma's final sentence on behalf of my parents. "But that is no reason not to pay tribute to the men and women who were alive in 1945, to their hardships and to their h... moreopes and aspirations, even though many of these would turn to ash, as everything eventually does."The book raises a large number of important issues about blame, responsibility, retribution and justice. It deals with some human universals including our capacity for violence to each other and our capacity to work together for a better future.The issues it deals with are enduring, and the book will repay the reader. In a year in which the centenary of WW1 is topical, and in a county in which Gallipoli is engaging young minds as it's centenary approaches, this is a good antidote to simplistic ideas that manage to find favour.For me, it's weakness is that the narrative, while following a useful large scale structure, is disjointed at the level of the page. This may be why it was a bit of a chore for me to pick it up each day. So just 3 stars.
review 2: Excellent! Great treatment of the year 1945 and the human drama that would play out as the drama of armies withdrew. Vendettas, politics, rebuilding, reconstruction, rearming... it all happened after the war, in countries that were torn apart and desperately needed peace again. But that wasn't always the case. In fact, in some nations that were "liberated" had to deal with new occupiers and new struggles for their own independence.A great read about a little known or discussed part of WWII history. Recommended. less

Download links for: 1945 - Biografie van een jaar

Advertising