Mention Containing Books The Vertigo Years: Change and Culture in the West, 1900-1914
| Title | : | The Vertigo Years: Change and Culture in the West, 1900-1914 |
| Author | : | Philipp Blom |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 480 pages |
| Published | : | October 13th 2009 by Emblem Editions (first published August 1st 2008) |
| Categories | : | History. Nonfiction. European History. War. World War I |
Philipp Blom
Paperback | Pages: 480 pages Rating: 3.97 | 1104 Users | 127 Reviews
Chronicle Supposing Books The Vertigo Years: Change and Culture in the West, 1900-1914
The most breathtaking work of history since Paris 1919.Europe, early in the 20th century: a world adrift, a pulsating era of creativity and contradictions. The hot topics of the day — terrorism and globalization, immigration, consumerism, the lack of moral values, and rivaling superpowers — could make one forget that it is a century ago that this era vanished into the trenches of the Somme and Vimy Ridge.
Or did it? The closer one looks, the more this world seems like ours, the more one sees that the questions and realities shaping our lives and thoughts were formulated and laid down at the beginning of the 20th century: feminism, democratization, mass communication, commercial branding, consumerism, state-sponsored genocide, and psychoanalysis were all concepts birthed in this period. This was a time radically unlike the Victorian era that preceded it, a time in which all the old certainties broke down. Philipp Blom succeeds in bringing to life the immediacy of the lives and issues of this fascinating, flawed pre-war period.
Through a series of historical vignettes, each chapter focusing on one particularly telling event for every year from 1900 to 1914, The Vertigo Years discovers the great people, powers, and ideas of Europe after 1900. The approach is eclectic, brilliantly combining the novelist’s eye with the craft of the historian. It opens up this era in all its contradictions and similarities to our own.
From the Hardcover edition.
Details Books In Favor Of The Vertigo Years: Change and Culture in the West, 1900-1914
| Original Title: | The Vertigo Years: Europe 1900-1914 |
| ISBN: | 0771016417 (ISBN13: 9780771016417) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Literary Awards: | Hessell-Tiltman Prize Nominee (2008) |
Rating Containing Books The Vertigo Years: Change and Culture in the West, 1900-1914
Ratings: 3.97 From 1104 Users | 127 ReviewsEvaluate Containing Books The Vertigo Years: Change and Culture in the West, 1900-1914
Pretty scattered (inevitable in a book covering these years in the major countries of Europe and -- to a lesser extent -- the U.S.) but an enjoyable corrective to the idea that WWI marked a complete break with the past. Blom shows that, at least for elites, the psychological crack-up brought on by rapid technological and social change was well underway before 1914. There are no foot-notes, although there are "notes" at the end of the book, listed by page, so if you think the author thoughtAfter reading numerous non-fiction books dealing with the infamous European history of the first half of the 20th century, I thought I deserved a break from all this madness, atrocities, and right-out horror. So I decided to read The Vertigo Years, a book about the so-called Belle Epoche, expecting it to be a light read about golden times and containing an abundance of entertaining juicy stories.Mind you, I had read several reviews of this book and, thus, should have known better. But this had
Its hard to make clear what bugs me about this book. Overall I like it but I wanted a high-level overview of European history from 1900 to 1914, and while this book does provide that, it goes into too much small (unnecessary) detail. Like for example: a drilled down explanation of how Xrays work. Sure thats all very interesting, but this is not a book about the discoveries of Xrays!! It is possible to talk about Marie Curie and why she matters in the grand scheme of history without detailed
I was led to this book by Margaret McMillans The War That Ended Peace: The Road To 1914. She views the 1900-1914 era in light of the build-up to a war that she argues did not have to happen. Philipp Blom wants us to take her word for that, forget the war, and view this fascinating era on its own merits.This time period is in many ways so similar to our own, and Blom provides thought provoking coverage of much of it. I just cant find a way to write a meaningful review that is worthy of this book,
This is a well written, well researched cultural history looking at the factors that lead to profound changes in the way the world was viewed in the opening years of the Twentieth Century. It is information rich and I learned quite a bit. I didn't entirely agree with all Blom's arguments and I thought there were some sins of omission, but I found it very well argued and stimulating reading. Blom's central theme is that the period can be explained as a nervous reaction to Europe's perceived loss
As a work of history, this is, frankly, an intelligent entertainment rather than anything more analytically stimulating but it is good at what it does. Each chapter is a year but this is a little misleading because the year is just an excuse to delve into two or three thematic stories.The overall thesis is perhaps overstretched - that 1900-1914 was particularly 'vertiginous' and contained all the seeds of modernity. In fact, all periods can be presented as vertiginous in their own way and all
The author takes an event in each year from 1900 to 1914 as the basis for each chapter. He then expands on the theme, so that Chapter 1 on the Paris World Fair also gives a wider coverage of France at the time, the Dreyfus affair and antisemitism, Chapter 2 on the death of Queen Victoria looks at Britain and the changing role of the aristocracy there and throughout Europe, Chapter 3 on Sigmund Freud finally getting a post and recognition discusses psychoanalysis and its effects on thought, art
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