London : Atlantic Books, 2013. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine cloth copy in an equally fine dust-wrapper. Particularly well-preserved overall; tight, bright, clean and especially sharp-cornered. Physical description: 368p. ; 24cm. Subjects: World War, (1939-1945) -- Influence. History, Modern -- 20th century.

Synopsis

A marvelous global history of the pivotal year 1945 as a new world emerged from the ruins of World War II Year Zero is a landmark reckoning with the great drama that ensued after war came to an end in 1945. One world had ended and a new, uncertain one was beginning. Regime change had come on a global scale: across Asia (including China, Korea, Indochina, and the Philippines, and of course Japan) and all of continental Europe. Out of the often vicious power struggles that ensued emerged the modern world as we know it. In human terms, the scale of transformation is almost impossible to imagine. Great cities around the world lay in ruins, their populations decimated, displaced, starving. Harsh revenge was meted out on a wide scale, and the ground was laid for much horror to come. At the same time, in the wake of unspeakable loss, the euphoria of the liberated was extraordinary, and the revelry unprecedented. The postwar years gave rise to the European welfare state, the United Nations, decolonization, Japanese pacifism, and the European Union. Social, cultural, and political “reeducation” was imposed on vanquished by victors on a scale that also had no historical precedent. Much that was done was ill advised, but in hindsight, as Ian Buruma shows us, these efforts were in fact relatively enlightened, humane, and effective. A poignant grace note throughout this history is Buruma’s own father’s story. Seized by the Nazis during the occupation of Holland, he spent much of the war in Berlin as a laborer, and by war’s end was literally hiding in the rubble of a flattened city, having barely managed to survive starvation rations, Allied bombing, and Soviet shock troops when the end came. His journey home and attempted reentry into “normalcy” stand in many ways for his generation’s experience. A work of enormous range and stirring human drama, conjuring both the Asian and European theaters with equal fluency, Year Zero is a book that Ian Buruma is perhaps uniquely positioned to write. It is surely his masterpiece.

Reviews

(Log in or Create an Account first!)

Details

Bookseller: MW Books Ltd. (IE)
Bookseller's Inventory #: 302037
Title: Year Zero : A History of 1945
Author: Buruma, Ian
Format/Binding: Hardcover
Book Condition: Used
Quantity Available: 1
Edition: First Edition
ISBN 10: 1848879369
ISBN 13: 9781848879362
Publisher: London : Atlantic Books
Date Published: 2013

Terms of Sale

MW Books Ltd.

Returns accepted within 10 days of receipt if you are unsatisfied with either our description of, or the book itself.

About the Seller

MW Books Ltd.

This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.

Biblio member since 2005

Galway

Ask Seller a Question

About MW Books Ltd.

MW Books is an academic and antiquarian bookshop with a large stock in core areas such as Early Travel & Exploration, Nineteenth Century Literature, Early Political Economy, Labour and Social History, and Asian and Colonial History. Please don't hesitate to contact us with your questions or comments regarding any item listed.

Glossary
Frequently asked questions

Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

Fine: A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
Tight: Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
First Edition: In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
Cloth: "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...