Michael Stürmer

A very long essay makes for a rather short book of history. If you don't have a bit of an overview of what happened during the time period covered, you'll quickly get lost. Stürmer offers loads of opinion, some of it rather witty, most of it rather interesting. Not being very well-read about this time and place, I can't say how much of it is novel. This is actually the second time that I've read this book. I breezed through it the first time and by the time I got to the end, I realized that I couldn't remember much of anything that I'd read. More of it has stuck this time. Quite good,but not sure that it's absolutely essential.… (mere)

Perhaps it's that I don't know enough about this period to appreciate a sophisticated book; perhaps the author is just a lousy writer; but I was really disappointed by this.

It gave me some names and concepts, so that when I return to this subject I'll probably get more out of my next book, but I can't recommend it to anyone.
What I did find striking from what I learned of the period was the comparison with the US today:
* a population certain that they could do no wrong, that the future was theirs,
* a conviction that diplomacy and allies were for wimps,
* and a political system that encouraged these delusions.… (mere)