A History of the Twentieth Century: Volume 1, 1900-1933

Rating:
Summary: A world history through British eyes...
Review: A more accurate title for this book should have been "A history of the Twentieth Century from a British point of view". Obviously, it is not easy to undertake the task of describing the world history of such a turbulant period. Historians are also just like the rest of us; they have biases and prejudices which show up in their work even though they are trained to be objective. Gilbert portrays the events in the European front during the Great War in detail with all its cruelty and punishment of the soldiers trapped in it. He does less than an acceptable job for events affecting other parts of the world, such as in the developing (or at that time colonized) nations. The Russian revolution is described in 1917 when it starts and again when the counter-revolution starts, but not in its longlasting effects for its people and other nations. The struggle of the colonies such as Ireland or India are completely glossed over. There are also glaring omissions and inaccuracies in the area where it is strongest, the World War I, judging from my interest area. While describing how the Ottoman Empire entered the war on the side of Germany, Gilbert omits Britain's takeover of two battleships (Mesud and Resadiye)in British shipyards paid by Turkey and the extent of the public relations disaster it caused. The two German cruisers (Goben and Breslau) which escaped to Istanbul in 1914, eventually shelled the Russian Black Sea posts and started the war with Russia and her ally, Britain. There is no reference to this event. The defeat of British forces in the Middle East in Kut-ul Amara which stopped any other invasion in the area until 1917 is not mentioned. The Lausanne treaty in 1923 between Turkey and other major powers determined the shape of this counry's future and became an inspiration to other independence wars in this century (such as Algeria and Egypt). Instead all we hear is how a British officer was disgusted with its outcome! So much for being objective. Gilbert's another weakness is his lack of rigorousness in the numbers. Gallipoli attack included 18 Britain and French major warships, not 10 as mentioned. Turkey's losses were much more than the 325,000 dead as listed. Civilian losses should have been listed for other countries besides Rumenia. Gilbert also perpetuates the inflated numbers of Armenian losses (lists 2 million when an official cencus in the area documents 1.5 million people at that time, majority non-Armenians) and omits any of the attacks by the armed bands of militia against the Ottoman army and civilians in the middle of a Turko-Russian war. One also has to remember that part of British strategy at that time to bring the US on her side and to justify the colonization of vast areas of the Middle East was to fabricate inflamatory events and causalties against her opponents such as Germany and Ottoman Empire. A much larger number of Muslim civilian losses in the hands of Russia and its local allies in Caucesia is not mentioned at all. Overall, I found the book interesting in its portrayal of the convential British historical point of view and as I mentioned, it does give a realistic picture of the Western European front. On the other hand, the reader is better off reading books on specific topics, such as World War I, Russian revolution or end of European colonization. The yearly listing of the world events in the book also results in a loss of continuity in major developments and progress of nations. I cannot recommend the book for anything more than a quick perusal of the world history for that time period.

Rating:
Summary: A Masterful Attempt To Describe The Twentieth Century!
Review: British historian and academic Sir Martin Gilbert (knighted by the Queen in 1995) has a well-deserved reputation as one of the most authoritative academics on the subject of the twentieth century, and has written perhaps more prolifically than anyone else on various aspects of this remarkable epoch. Indeed, he has written such a torrent of different books on everything ranging from a multiple volume biography of Sir Winston Churchill to histories of World War One, World War two, that a complete accounting of his efforts would require more space than is available for the review. Thus it should come as no surprise that he has written a three-volume overview of the twentieth century itself. What is so surprising is how engaging, entertaining, and accessible each of the three volumes is to the reader.

In this first volume Gilbert masterfully introduces us to the sweep of events beginning at the opening of the century, and we almost immediately understand just how momentous the coming changes must be to sweep away the incredible array of traditional forces present at the turn of the century in 1900. From the description in the opening pages of the so-called boxer Rebellion in China as the marvelous international cooperation that characterized this multi-country military and diplomatic operation to the narrative explaining the difficulties facing both the newly elected Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the rising Chancellor of Germany, Adolph Hitler, in the depths of the Depression some 33 years later, this is a book that engages the reader in the spectacle of the transformation of our world from everything autocratic, traditional and rigidly controlled to all that became so characteristic of the century thereafter; democratic, irrational, murderous, and wildly chaotic. With an amazing and delightful eye for absorbing detail, Gilbert threads his way through the particular personalities, events and issues as they arise chronologically.

This is the one accurate criticism I have read about which may be directed at the book. He does stick fairly much to a faithful chronological narrative. Yet, given the plethora of events, issues, personalities and changes occurring throughout the world, any other organization would suffer from other problems such as maintaining context for the reader, so one can appreciate all that faced a particular leader in a given situation. Understanding how the multitudes of actors, issues, and countries are involved and intertwined lends itself to better comprehension, at least in this reviewer's mind. After all, it is mind-boggling to understand in the last hundred years the western world transformed itself in almost every dimension imaginable; technological, scientific, social, economic, and philosophical. To attempt to do justice to this wide panoply of revolutionary change requires a certain perspective and rigorous discipline to do so, especially in the 3,000 or so pages allotted to the overall work.

The narrative herein works its way fatefully through the events leading up the First World War, guiding us through the tragedy of this most unnecessary of wars, and shows us how the various national interests and ideologies involved not only during the war but in its aftermath set the stage for what follows. One is struck by how masterfully Gilbert threads his way through this most essential lesson of history; i.e., how the past and what it holds profoundly sets the stage and writes the script for all that follows. From China to Berlin, from Sarajevo to Washington, from Gallipoli to Paris, we follow the story of our own century as it unfolds, and the act of finishing this particular volume only whets one's appetite for the next volume, which covers the era from the Depression of the 1930s through the epic events of the Second World War and the world that conflict created up into the 1950s.Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Commendable effort worth reading
Review: Martin Gilbert is a terrific historian, and some reviews, in my opinion, are a bit too harsh. By definition, an historical overview of the first 33 years of the 20th Century in "just" 896 pages, is general in nature. I don't disagree with some of the reviewers that important events were glossed over, and some missed entirely. However, the most important event of international consequence during the period described is WWI, and Gilbert's account is superb. Having read Gilbert, I had a much greater appreciation of the "falling dominoes" which preceded and were responsible for the war. Certainly there are other works which deal with WWI in more detail (Keegan, Tuchman,etc., or in a different vein, Robert Graves and Remarque), and I doubt if Gilbert would disagree. However, for the hisorical novice, or for one who simply desires to be more conversant on the 20th century, this book is excellent. Like many overviews such as Gilbert's the bibliography provides a great resource for those who desire to probe more deeply into this tumultuous period in our history, which set the stage for WWII. Historial overviews serve a very valuable purpose and the reader should understand that the author is painting with a broad brush. A focused book limited to the First Battle of Ypres or the Battle of Belleau Wood makes far more sense when read after a work such as Gilbert's, not before, and therein, prehaps lies the great value. Likewise, one should read Foote or Catton prior to Coddington's classic on the Battle of Gettysburg. In summary, an excellent read placing the first 33 years of the 20th century in context,and well worth the time.

Rating:
Summary: Commendable effort worth reading
Review: Martin Gilbert is a terrific historian, and some reviews, in my opinion, are a bit too harsh. By definition, an historical overview of the first 33 years of the 20th Century in "just" 896 pages, is general in nature. I don't disagree with some of the reviewers that important events were glossed over, and some missed entirely. However, the most important event of international consequence during the period described is WWI, and Gilbert's account is superb. Having read Gilbert, I had a much greater appreciation of the "falling dominoes" which preceded and were responsible for the war. Certainly there are other works which deal with WWI in more detail (Keegan, Tuchman,etc., or in a different vein, Robert Graves and Remarque), and I doubt if Gilbert would disagree. However, for the hisorical novice, or for one who simply desires to be more conversant on the 20th century, this book is excellent. Like many overviews such as Gilbert's the bibliography provides a great resource for those who desire to probe more deeply into this tumultuous period in our history, which set the stage for WWII. Historial overviews serve a very valuable purpose and the reader should understand that the author is painting with a broad brush. A focused book limited to the First Battle of Ypres or the Battle of Belleau Wood makes far more sense when read after a work such as Gilbert's, not before, and therein, prehaps lies the great value. Likewise, one should read Foote or Catton prior to Coddington's classic on the Battle of Gettysburg. In summary, an excellent read placing the first 33 years of the 20th century in context,and well worth the time.

Rating:
Summary: Drowned in Detail without Insight
Review: The first volume spanning 1900-1933 is a comprehensive look at the first third of the 20th century. Gilberts' style is somewhat dry, but not boring as he touches on the important events of these years. The subjects are mostly political, dealing with wars and the shifts in power that occured during those times. A good overview of the first part of the century. My only minor complaint is that a lot of the inventions that were accomplished (flight, the emergence of the automobile) were given only passing interest.

Rating:
Summary: This is the worst of the 3 volumes
Review: This book's viewpoint is that of a British Jew, and he spends lots of time on British colonial history, and of course on the first World War. Some of the stuff on the less momentous years was new to me. There are some errors, e.g., on page 788: "...a prolonged drought spreading westward from the Pacific Coast..."! The 1927 account refers to Henry L. Stimson as an ex-Secretary of State, rather than an ex-Secretary of War. (Stimson did not become Secretary of State till 1929.) FDR is said to have been inaugurated March 3, 1933! There is limited attention to social trends, literature, and such. I think a more analytic approach would have been more useful and attention-holding. Much of the 33 and 1/3 years covered is dismal and sad, but we can't blame Gilbert for that. I feel sure I will read Volume II, I am sure.

Rating:
Summary: A Sorry Effort
Review: This is a lousy 800 page book that could have been a superb 500 page book. The author clearly is in love with the sound of his own voice and writes as if he were speaking to his students at Oxford. This does not work very well in print. The book is full of run-on sentences and tortured grammar of a kind that would net a sophomore at a middling American college a C- on an English paper. Decent editing just to eliminate verbosity would cut this tome down by a third. Gilbert's perspective is excessively Anglo-centric -- his main source seems to have been microfiche of headlines from the London Times for the years covered. And his strict year-by-year structure means that important themes are diced up and impossible to follow. Interestingly, the one time he breaks from this structure to write thematically -- his coverage of World War I -- the book works quite well. Sadly, these few chapters are not enough to justify the pain imposed by the rest of this doorstop.

Rating:
Summary: A Sorry Effort
Review: This is a lousy 800 page book that could have been a superb 500 page book. The author clearly is in love with the sound of his own voice and writes as if he were speaking to his students at Oxford. This does not work very well in print. The book is full of run-on sentences and tortured grammar of a kind that would net a sophomore at a middling American college a C- on an English paper. Decent editing just to eliminate verbosity would cut this tome down by a third. Gilbert's perspective is excessively Anglo-centric -- his main source seems to have been microfiche of headlines from the London Times for the years covered. And his strict year-by-year structure means that important themes are diced up and impossible to follow. Interestingly, the one time he breaks from this structure to write thematically -- his coverage of World War I -- the book works quite well. Sadly, these few chapters are not enough to justify the pain imposed by the rest of this doorstop.

Rating:
Summary: Great intro to the start of the 20th century
Review: When I checked this book out at the library the student worker asked what is was about. I said "The history of the 20th century, it's the first of three volumes" and she goes "American History?". I say "No World". She says"It's that small?". I think a lot of people miss the fact that obviously this is not an in depth history of every event and it never was meant to be that. The reason why this series is worthwhile is that it gives you a real overall sense of what was going on year by year. And because of that format it really brings you through the century with the events in context with one another. The reason it focuses so much on the wars and conflicts are that those are what shaped the century! At the end of the chapters he briefly mentions stuff like disasters and inventions which helps to add some overall context without distracting from the main ongoing events. It is very detailed for what it is (a general history) and the many excerpts from speeches, books, and letters really make it much more personal and readable. This isn't a topic that's easy to do well and I can't imagine it being done much better.

Rating:
Summary: Author in Need of an Editor part two
Review: You would think that someone who was knighted by the Queen and was an English subject to boot would know exactly how long Queen Victoria reigned for....on the first page of year 1901 he writes that she had reigned for "sixty-one years"...though 1837-1901 does not exactly add up to sixty one years.
I really couldn't get past the glaring errors...this is a real shame or sham when there are so many great historians out there who could be publishing and can't because people like Martin Gilbert are pumping out these editorial nightmares.