A review by made_line_kalista
Drumul spre iad: Europa 1914-1949 by Ian Kershaw

5.0

True to the testament on its cover, this book is surely to become a classic. It provides an astonishingly detailed picture of Europe during these tortuous years and sets up the understanding for the postwar years. What a contradiction this book presented me with: on the one hand being completely overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information contained within, while at the same time making me want much more detail. I now find myself paging through the bibliography to mark down the other books that I hope will expand upon the knowledge base this book gave me. One thing that I found especially valuable in this book is the sense of 'human-ness' it gave to history. When I learned about history in school, it was presented in such a definitive sense and there was no question that obviously history was headed one way or another. In addition, my school history tended to draw lines throughout time, i.e. there was war, then it was over, the end. But Kershaw stresses the confusion of the times, the after war history that was not a stark stop to violence but saw violence continue many years after world war two was over. He brings you into the minds of the people and skillfully sheds light on a population that was wrought with ideological flaws. It was a fascinating read.