History of the Twentieth Century, A, Vol I: Volume One: 1900 - 1933 [Hardcover]

Martin Gilbert (Author)

Book Description

Series: History of the Twentieth Century | Publication Date: November 5, 1997

What a terrible disappointment the twentieth century has been, was Winston Churchills comment in 1922. One world war was over, more than 6 million soldiers had been killed, and four vast empires had been destroyed. A second mass slaughterin which more than 46 million would diewas yet to come, bringing in its wake the arms race, the Cold War, and the nuclear age.

This volume of Martin Gilberts three-volume narrative history of the century charts its first thirty-three years. Opening in the age of horse-drawn travel and colonial wars, Gilbert closes this volume with Roosevelt as the newly elected President of the United States, the inauguration of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany, and the first of Stalins show trials in the Soviet Union. As well as chronicling the wars, revolutions, and political upheavals, Gilbert tells the story of ordinary men and women in every continent, making them an integral part of the events of which they were sometimes the beneficiaries and often the victims.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

After writing more than 50 books, the eminent British historian, knighted in 1995, could be excused for feeling tired, and this first volume of his history of the 20th century shows it. One of the problems is that he has chosen to cover the period year by year, with the result that, like a butterfly, he alights briefly on one country before winging his way to the next. This tends to interrupt the flow of the narrative and the development of any themes. The only exception is where he describes the First World War, on which he has already written much, and where the inherent drama of the events imposes its own theme. Another problem lies in a lack of freshness in the writing: ``the ever-changing, ever-renewing drama on the world stage. . . . Everywhere mankind strove, and continues to strive for that better tomorrow.'' A further problem, most unexpected in a historian of Gilbert's accomplishment, is his use of sources. For example, although he describes it as a ``patriotic volume published annually,'' he quotes Cassell's Illustrated History of England at length and almost uncritically: ``Never was there a touch of nature that made the whole world more kin than the death of her Majesty the Queen of England.'' The First World War dominates the period, occupying a quarter of the book, but Gilbert gives little indication of why statesmen, with few exceptions (Churchill in England, Count Tisza in Austria-Hungary), were so blind to its potential consequences and why the peoples of Europe greeted the declaration of war with such enthusiasm. The good bits tend to suggest ``Trivial Pursuits'': In 1906, for example, Coca-Cola replaced the cocaine in its drink with caffeine, and Lindbergh's achievements finally convinced the American people that the airplane was safe. Churchill, whose biographer Gilbert is, would have called this volume a ``themeless pudding.'' (24 pages b&w photos, not seen) (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review

How should one do justice to this first installment of a history that will, when completed in a few years, come to at least three volumes and probably close to 3,000 pages?... Does it enhance the enterprise to acknowledge that Sir Martin Gilbert is one of the most prodigious of contemporary historians, with a sprawling knowledge of Asia and Europe, who has earlier recorded almost day by day the life of Winston Churchill and has written sweeping and touching volumes on the world wars, the Holocaust and related Jewish themes? -- The New York Times Book Review, Charles S. Maier

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 944 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow (November 5, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688100643
• ISBN-13: 978-0688100643
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,531,790 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sir Martin Gilbert is one of the leading historians of his generation. An Honorary Fellow of Merton College, Oxford - of which he was a fellow for thirty years - he is the official biographer of Churchill and the author of eighty books, among them Churchill - A Life and The Righteous: The Unsung Heroes of the Holocaust. For more information please visit http://www.martingilbert

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Commendable effort worth reading, August 14, 2000

By 

R. D. Chattin (York, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: History of the Twentieth Century, A, Vol I: Volume One: 1900 - 1933 (Hardcover)

Martin Gilbert is a terrific historian, and some reviews, in my opinion, are a bit too harsh. By definition, an historical overview of the first 33 years of the 20th Century in "just" 896 pages, is general in nature. I don't disagree with some of the reviewers that important events were glossed over, and some missed entirely. However, the most important event of international consequence during the period described is WWI, and Gilbert's account is superb. Having read Gilbert, I had a much greater appreciation of the "falling dominoes" which preceded and were responsible for the war. Certainly there are other works which deal with WWI in more detail (Keegan, Tuchman,etc., or in a different vein, Robert Graves and Remarque), and I doubt if Gilbert would disagree. However, for the hisorical novice, or for one who simply desires to be more conversant on the 20th century, this book is excellent. Like many overviews such as Gilbert's the bibliography provides a great resource for those who desire to probe more deeply into this tumultuous period in our history, which set the stage for WWII. Historial overviews serve a very valuable purpose and the reader should understand that the author is painting with a broad brush. A focused book limited to the First Battle of Ypres or the Battle of Belleau Wood makes far more sense when read after a work such as Gilbert's, not before, and therein, prehaps lies the great value. Likewise, one should read Foote or Catton prior to Coddington's classic on the Battle of Gettysburg. In summary, an excellent read placing the first 33 years of the 20th century in context,and well worth the time.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Compelling !, October 1, 1998

By 

Sugunan (Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: History of the Twentieth Century, A, Vol I: Volume One: 1900 - 1933 (Hardcover)

My only gripe about this book is that, in trying to be comprehensive, it deals very lightly on the scientific, economic, cultural and artistic developments of the first 33 years of the century. How could he not mention the publication of Einstein's epoch-making papers in 1905! The author should have just concentrated on the political and military aspects; it is here that he is in his element. This is not analytical history, but I don't think it was meant to be. It sets out the facts plain and simple, and we are left to form our own opinions. And indeed I often paused to think about the implications of this or that event. Mr Gilbert is a fine writer, and his narrative becomes compelling as one reads on. The highlight of the book are the chapters regarding World War I; it is truly edge-of-the-seat stuff, which is quite remarkable for a narrative of this kind. Despite the faults, I enjoyed this book immensely, and I look forward eagerly to the remaning two volumes.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterful Attempt To Describe The Twentieth Century!, October 15, 2000

By 

Barron Laycock "Labradorman" (Temple, New Hampshire United States) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A History of the Twentieth Century: Volume 1, 1900-1933 (Paperback)

British historian and academic Sir Martin Gilbert (knighted by the Queen in 1995) has a well-deserved reputation as one of the most authoritative academics on the subject of the twentieth century, and has written perhaps more prolifically than anyone else on various aspects of this remarkable epoch. Indeed, he has written such a torrent of different books on everything ranging from a multiple volume biography of Sir Winston Churchill to histories of World War One, World War two, that a complete accounting of his efforts would require more space than is available for the review. Thus it should come as no surprise that he has written a three-volume overview of the twentieth century itself. What is so surprising is how engaging, entertaining, and accessible each of the three volumes is to the reader.

In this first volume Gilbert masterfully introduces us to the sweep of events beginning at the opening of the century, and we almost immediately understand just how momentous the coming changes must be to sweep away the incredible array of traditional forces present at the turn of the century in 1900. From the description in the opening pages of the so-called boxer Rebellion in China as the marvelous international cooperation that characterized this multi-country military and diplomatic operation to the narrative explaining the difficulties facing both the newly elected Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the rising Chancellor of Germany, Adolph Hitler, in the depths of the Depression some 33 years later, this is a book that engages the reader in the spectacle of the transformation of our world from everything autocratic, traditional and rigidly controlled to all that became so characteristic of the century thereafter; democratic, irrational, murderous, and wildly chaotic. With an amazing and delightful eye for absorbing detail, Gilbert threads his way through the particular personalities, events and issues as they arise chronologically.

This is the one accurate criticism I have read about which may be directed at the book. He does stick fairly much to a faithful chronological narrative. Yet, given the plethora of events, issues, personalities and changes occurring throughout the world, any other organization would suffer from other problems such as maintaining context for the reader, so one can appreciate all that faced a particular leader in a given situation. Understanding how the multitudes of actors, issues, and countries are involved and intertwined lends itself to better comprehension, at least in this reviewer's mind. After all, it is mind-boggling to understand in the last hundred years the western world transformed itself in almost every dimension imaginable; technological, scientific, social, economic, and philosophical. To attempt to do justice to this wide panoply of revolutionary change requires a certain perspective and rigorous discipline to do so, especially in the 3,000 or so pages allotted to the overall work.

The narrative herein works its way fatefully through the events leading up the First World War, guiding us through the tragedy of this most unnecessary of wars, and shows us how the various national interests and ideologies involved not only during the war but in its aftermath set the stage for what follows. One is struck by how masterfully Gilbert threads his way through this most essential lesson of history; i.e., how the past and what it holds profoundly sets the stage and writes the script for all that follows. From China to Berlin, from Sarajevo to Washington, from Gallipoli to Paris, we follow the story of our own century as it unfolds, and the act of finishing this particular volume only whets one's appetite for the next volume, which covers the era from the Depression of the 1930s through the epic events of the Second World War and the world that conflict created up into the 1950s.Enjoy!