Recommendation for History Buffs: If you are not familiar with British historian Sir Alistair Horne, you should be – especially if you have any interest at all in the great European conflicts of the last two centuries and the events that led to them. In particular, I enthusiastically commend to you three of Horne’s works that, collectively, form a “trilogy” that recount the critical Franco-German conflicts beginning with the Franco-Prussian War and that ultimately ripened into two world wars. The first book, “The Fall of Paris: The Siege and the Commune 1870-71” focuses on the humiliating defeat of the French and the extended Prussian siege of Paris by them, which led to the collapse of the French government and a “revolution” that, for a brief and bloody time, brought forth the socialist “Commune” in Paris (a happening virtually forgotten by, or completely unknown to, most people today). The second is “The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916” and the third is “To Lose a Battle: France 1940.” These are fascinating and well-written works that contain within them a vivid coloration, excitement and a certain propulsion, that make them read as though they were novels rather than works of history. When digesting them as a collective series, one can see the clear and compelling linkages that tie these three Franco-German conflicts together – and one develops a dreaded sense that they were virtually “fated” to occur as the great sweep of history seems to propel itself forward, inexorably, page after page. I first read them some years ago (the first of was published back in the 1960’s) and I plan to dust them off and consume them again. You will not be disappointed if you do likewise. The picture below is of Horne, and a version of the various book covers for the above referenced works.
Posted on: Sat, 03 Aug 2013 17:05:12 +0000
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