Synopses & Reviews
One of the most violent conflicts in the history of civilization, World War I has been strangely forgotten in American culture. It has become a ghostly war fought in a haze of memory, often seen merely as a distant preamble to World War II. In critically acclaimed historian David Reynolds seeks to broaden our vision by assessing the impact of the Great War across the twentieth century. He shows how events in that turbulent century--particularly World War II, the Cold War, and the collapse of Communism--shaped and reshaped attitudes to 1914-18.
Review
"[World War I has] been analyzed before, but never with such depth of perception or range of understanding. Reynolds is able to speak with authority on economics and philosophy; literature and art; politics, diplomacy and memory. He is a historian of immense skill, utterly confident of his wisdom and deservedly so." Gerard De Groot
Review
"An extraordinary work." Washington Post
Review
"Brilliant...the most challenging and intelligent book on the Great War and our perceptions of it that any of us will read this, or any other year." Peter Stansky, Stanford University
Review
"[A] masterly look at what the war meant and how its meaning changed by decade." John Charmley The Times (UK)
Review
"A fluent corrective to our preoccupation with our own individual and family war stories . . . offers a truly global perspective on the conflict's long shadow." David Shribman Boston Globe
Review
"Who better as remembrancer than David Reynolds, with his customary lucidity, his long view, his comparative perspective, his contemporary sensitivity, his scholarly sanity and his crisp humanity? ...This is the work of a master historian." Nigel Jones The Telegraph (UK)
Review
"Transcends conventional histories about World War I ...The kind of book that challenges readers to think." Alex Danchev The Times Higher Education Supplement (UK)
Review
"Brilliant.... As an introduction to the controversies and complexities of a period of history that will be on all our demands next year, it is unlikely to be bettered." Ed Timms Dallas Morning News
Review
"Here at last among the plethora of predictable books on the anniversary of the great war is an intelligent and critical assessment... presented with a masterly array of sources across a busy century, at once thought-provoking and thoroughly informed." Tom Holland History Today
Review
"Offers correctives to many popular delusions. Perspective is critical to a comprehension of history, and Reynolds has no peer in helping us to achieve this." Richard Overy The Guardian
Review
"Written by an outstanding historian at the height of his powers, is a brilliant study in 'legacies and refractions.'" Max Hastings The Sunday Times
Review
"A masterly study in every sense: by an historian at the top of his game, deploying wide-ranging research in important arguments, sustained alike with rich detail and with dry wit." Piers Brendon The Independent
Review
"Eloquent... This book's deepest message is about the inescapability of history, whether we choose to live in its shadow or to turn our backs on the warnings it offers to the present." Peter Clarke Financial Times
Review
"Compelling... Reynolds ably and dramatically depicts the many unforeseen and unimagined consequences of war--not just for the dead and wounded, but also for the living and the yet to be born." Christopher Clark The Daily Mail
Review
"Fascinating." James Norton Christian Science Monitor
Review
"One of the most illuminating studies in the history of ideas to appear for many years. Beautifully written, with a masterly command of the diverse subject matter it addresses, is an immensely rich book." Andrew Roberts Wall Street Journal
Review
"A clear-eyed appraisal of the First World War's consequences." John Gray The Literary Review
Synopsis
By exploring big themes such as democracy and empire, nationalism and capitalism, as well as art and poetry, The Long Shadow is stunningly broad in its historical perspective. Reynolds throws light on the vast expanse of the last century and explains why 1914 18 is a conflict that America is still struggling to comprehend. Forging connections between people, places, and ideas, The Long Shadow ventures across the traditional subcultures of historical scholarship to offer a rich and layered examination not only of politics, diplomacy, and security but also of economics, art, and literature. The result is a magisterial reinterpretation of the place of the Great War in modern history.
"
Synopsis
Winner of the 2014 PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize for the Best Work of History. "If you only read one book about the First World War in this anniversary year, read . David Reynolds writes superbly and his analysis is compelling and original." --Anne Chisolm, Chair of the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize Committee, and Chair of the Royal Society of Literature.
About the Author
David Reynolds is a professor of international history at Cambridge University. He is the author of books including The Long Shadow and In Command of History: Churchill Fighting and Writing the Second World War, which won the Wolfson Prize.