The Best of Times, The Worst of Times: A History of Now

Description

In the decades since the end of the Second World War, it has been widely assumed that the western model of liberal democracy and free trade is the way the world should be governed. However, events in the early years of the twenty-first century - first, the 2003 war with Iraq and its chaotic aftermath and, second, the financial crash of 2008 - have threatened the general acceptance that continued progress under the benign (or sometimes not so benign) gaze of the western powers is the only way forwards. And as America turns inwards and Europe is beset by austerity politics and populist nationalism, the post-war consensus looks less and less secure. But is this really the worst of times? In a forensic examination of the world we now live in, acclaimed historian Michael Burleigh sets out to answer that question. Who could have imagined that China would champion globalization and lead the battle on climate change? Or that post-Soviet Russia might present a greater threat to the world's stability than ISIS? And while we may be on the cusp of still more dramatic change, perhaps the risks will - in time - bring not only change but a wholly positive transformation. Incisive, robust and always insightful, The Best of Times, The Worst of Times is both a dazzling tour d'horizon of the world as it is today and a surprisingly optimistic vision of the world as it might become.

Michael Burleigh is a prize-winning author, and commentator on global affairs who also runs a political risk advisory service in the City. His books include Small Wars, Faraway Places and The Third Reich: A New History for which he won the Samuel Johnson Prize. They have been translated into many languages. In 2012 he won the Nonino International Prize for his life's work. He is married and lives in central London.

A robust and unsentimental guide to global power politics * The Times * Burleigh has always had an eye for compelling hard detail * Sunday Times * Bracing ... refreshingly pessimistic * Observer * In this wide-ranging book Michael Burleigh demonstrates a mastery of global affairs that would put most experts in any one of his chosen chapter headings to shame ... quite brilliant. * Mail on Sunday * Brilliant, fact-packed, judicious and above all debunking ... The Best of Times, the Worst of Times will not leave its readers cheered, but they will at least be superbly informed about the dramas to come. * Daily Telegraph * Swashbuckling ... a breakneck geopolitical gallop across the globe in the hands of a historian and commentator at the peak of his powers. * Evening Standard * [A] trenchant and galloping account of the opening years of the century ... ruthlessly impolite * Irish Examiner * A history of the modern world, set out clearly, with trenchant scholarship and wit * Daily Telegraph Books of the Year * Incisive and compelling. His style is always trenchant and sometimes blistering -- Piers Brendon * Literary Review *