Customer Reviews

Remembered Past: John Lukacs On History Historians & Historical Knowledge

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For those of us who have discovered John Lukacs and his wise, witty way of uncovering the past to make sense of the present, this is a "must have" book. His observations cut through the Left-Right rethoric and shows the common mistaken assumtions they both share. For example, he decries the puerilization of American life and politics of the sixties. But after agreeing with the Right in that, he goes on to say that this puerilization began in the fifties, under Eisenhower, an icon of the Right (Lukacs does not think much of him...). He decries anti-communism in that, becoming a reflex, it replaced a sober assessment of the peril and, also the limit of the peril, that the USSr represented, depriving us of an intelligent Foreign Policy - see his comments on Churchill's second premiership and how his efforts were torpedoed by Eisenhower, which meant a hardening of the USSR's position (Churchill, unlike those who shrilly saw the specter of Communism coming to engulf them, predicted the collapse of the USSR in the lifetime of one of his aides, which, by calculating a normal lifespan for the man, meant the eighties. Right on schedule).

Lukacs can be called a Hitler/Churchill specialist, and he can mine a lot of useful lessons out of these chaotic years. He also decries the attempts to make history a science, with a deterministic bent, a belief that he illustrates with enough examples to show you what is at stake - the belief in Free Will, no less (Lukacs is a Catholic - see his review of Hochhuts' "The Vicar" from a Catholic perspective, that only someone who expects great things from the Catholic Church can decry its actions in World War II, and that in the end Pius XII did not have enough faith in his Faith or in his mission).

You get descriptions of Buddapest at the turn of the century, and of Philadelphia (he remembers the once famous Philadelphia essayist Anges Repplier and I hope that this helps brings her back in print). You get reviews of histories and historians, some of which he approves and some not (He does not think much of Hannah Arendt and tells you why, and he admires Simone Weil unreservedly).

I could go on forever, but the gist is, buy it, it is the best use you could make of your $18.00