A History in Fragments: Europe in the Twentieth Century

Rating:
Summary: A Book in Fragments
Review: As a prolific reader of history, I found this book to be a tremendous diappointment. There is no coherence to this project. It is pieces of history and the same oft-quoted statistics slapped together - a poor condensation of Keegan's various books, Ferguson's The Pity of War and Kershaw's Hitler. Read any of these, but not Vinen's. Yes history is messy, but writing about it shouldn't be.

Rating:
Summary: A Book in Fragments
Review: As a prolific reader of history, I found this book to be a tremendous diappointment. There is no coherence to this project. It is pieces of history and the same oft-quoted statistics slapped together - a poor condensation of Keegan's various books, Ferguson's The Pity of War and Kershaw's Hitler. Read any of these, but not Vinen's. Yes history is messy, but writing about it shouldn't be.

Rating:
Summary: Fragments are the *point* of the book
Review: I'm afraid this one runs a risk of being misunderstood. If you judge it as straight narrative it is indeed weak. But that's not its purpose. Rather it is an attempt, mostly successful, at social history beyond narrative. Read it with an ear for the detail: how the women's vote kept the Christian Democrats in power; how average civilian lifespan in Britain actually increaed during World War I-- and the wonderful bit about the disappearing wristwatch under the made-up red flag. He's also good at the shrewd aside: how we know more about the lives of 17 people around Gordon Square than of all of Serbia. As a title, "Fragments" is perhaps a confession more than a boast; Vinen does not always keep control of his material. But many of his fragments are too good to be missed.

Rating:
Summary: Not what it looks like
Review: I'm afraid this one runs a risk of being misunderstood. If you judge it as straight narrative it is indeed weak. But that's not its purpose. Rather it is an attempt, mostly successful, at social history beyond narrative. Read it with an ear for the detail: how the women's vote kept the Christian Democrats in power; how average civilian lifespan in Britain actually increaed during World War I-- and the wonderful bit about the disappearing wristwatch under the made-up red flag. He's also good at the shrewd aside: how we know more about the lives of 17 people around Gordon Square than of all of Serbia. As a title, "Fragments" is perhaps a confession more than a boast; Vinen does not always keep control of his material. But many of his fragments are too good to be missed.

Rating:
Summary: Fragments are the *point* of the book
Review: Our friend from Ohio below has rather missed the point of this magnificent book. Vinen has set out not to tell a story we all already know, but rather to explore the multiplicity of experiences in Europe during the 20th century. In this, through anecdote, statistic and telling details, he succeeds brilliantly. The book is consistently thought-provoking and challenging, a hugely welcome antidote to history books which merely list battles, wars, elections, deaths of Great Men.