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#Post#: 17184--------------------------------------------------
Books
By: Gregory Date: June 30, 2024, 5:52 am
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Last Friday, June 28th, was the 110th anniversary of the
assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, so I've
been reading a couple of interesting books about the resulting
crisis which led to the outbreak of the First World War in
August 1914. They are 'The Long Fuse' by Laurence Lafore and
'Europe's Last Summer' by David Fromkin. If there is one salient
fact which emerges from them is how little the European
statesmen realised what the consequences would be, thinking that
a general war would be short and decisive, like the wars of the
19th century. They would have been horrified to learn that it
would last over four years and destroy the old European order,
sweeping away four empires (Austro-Hungarian, German, Russian
and Ottoman) and creating the seedbeds of totalitarian regimes,
which would result in another world war twenty years later
#Post#: 17198--------------------------------------------------
Re: Books
By: Stephen Horsfall Date: July 1, 2024, 5:47 am
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Than heavens the second world war was the last one. If they'd
repeated at the same frequency, we'd now be living in the
aftermath of the fifth world war!
#Post#: 17200--------------------------------------------------
Re: Books
By: Gregory Date: July 1, 2024, 6:44 am
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[quote author=Steve link=topic=217.msg17198#msg17198
date=1719830820]
Than heavens the second world war was the last one. If they'd
repeated at the same frequency, we'd now be living in the
aftermath of the fifth world war!
[/quote]
It's unlikely we would have got past the Third World War, which
would have been fought with nuclear weapons. Or perhaps as
Einstein put it,"The Fourth World War will be fought with sticks
and stones".
Many regard the Cold War (1945 to 1989) between the two
superpowers, the USA and the USSR, as the Third World War
without direct military confrontation. Some are now calling that
Cold War One and the current confrontation between the NATO
powers and the China/Russia/Iran/North Korea axis Cold War Two,
which unlike its predecessor could go nuclear.
#Post#: 17234--------------------------------------------------
Re: Books
By: Lyn Date: July 3, 2024, 3:27 pm
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I feel sad that I no longer have the joy of reading. I do
sometimes listen to books on Audible but it's not the same.
#Post#: 17245--------------------------------------------------
Re: Books
By: Gregory Date: July 4, 2024, 3:18 am
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I've always loved post-war American fiction. I've read all of
Hemingway, Steinbeck, John Updike, Saul Bellow, Philip Roth,
Kurt Vonnegut, Joseph Heller (especially his classic 'Catch
22'), Raymond Carver, et al, and I'm currently reading the
latest in the five-novel Frank Bascombe series by Richard Ford,
'Be Mine'. A great writer and wry, humorous observer of
contemporary American society.
(I'm bumping this up in case Bev hasn't seen it. I'm sure she'll
find it interesting as an American and may have a comment on the
subject.)
Now I've remembered, happy Independence Day to Bev!
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