The Fear and the Freedom

byKeith Lowe

How the Second World War Changed Us

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The Second World War was one of the most catastrophic events in human history. But how did the experience and memory of bloodshed affect our lives?

The new order, as it emerged after 1945, saw the end of European empires and the birth of two new superpowers, in a new, global Cold War. Scientists delivered new technologies, politicians fantasized about overhauled societies, some argued for global government, others for independence. It was an era of wonder and terror, and it resonates in the arguments about nationalism, immigration and globalisation that we have today.

As well as analyzing the major changes and they myths that emerged, The Fear and the Freedom uses individual stories to examine the philosophical and psychological impact of the war, by showing how leaders and ordinary people coped with the post-war world and turned one of the greatest traumas in history into an opportunity for change. This is the definitive exploration of the aftermath of WWII - and the impact it still has.
Richly-documented and wide-ranging . . . I wish schools would use books like this to introduce pupils to the complexity of the problems that face them
Theodore Zeldin, author of 'The Hidden Pleasures of Life' and 'An Intimate History Of Humanity'

About Keith Lowe

Keith Lowe is widely recognized as a leading authority on the Second World War. He is the author of Inferno: The Devastation of Hamburg, 1943 and Savage Continent, which was a Sunday Times top ten bestseller and won the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize. He has spoken often on television and radio, both in Britain and the United States, and his books have been translated into 20 languages. He lives in north London with his wife and two children.
Details
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • ISBN: 9780241966495
  • Length: 480 pages
  • Price: £4.99
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