Michael Burleigh is a British author and historian whose work often delves into the darker aspects of human nature and totalitarian ideologies. Through deep historical research, he examines how radical beliefs can devolve into destructive forces. His writing is notable for its intellectual depth and its ability to uncover unsettling truths about the past and present. Readers will appreciate his analytical approach to history and his skill in connecting seemingly disparate events into a coherent narrative.
Exploring the evolution of terrorism, Michael Burleigh traces its roots from early movements like the Irish Republican Brotherhood and Russian Nihilists to contemporary threats driven by fundamentalism. The book delves into the lives of those involved in political violence and the impact on victims, providing a comprehensive view of the ongoing global crisis. Burleigh's authoritative narrative offers insights into the historical and social contexts of terrorism, emphasizing its enduring presence and the challenges it poses for the future.
We are said to be living in an age of anger, and national populist movements are often identified as its political manifestation. In Populism Michael Burleigh explores this new global era, drawing on his Engelsberg Lectures. The first chapter explores the nature of mass anger, mainly in Europe and the US: how might popular discontent be artificially incited and sustained by elite figures claiming to speak for the common people? The second chapter compares the difficult aftermaths of empire in Britain and Russia. Has that experience fostered these countries' sense of exceptionality and inability to evolve into normal societies? Many national populist movements exploit History, as we saw with the so-called 'statue wars' reignited in 2020. The third chapter ranges across Europe, but also China, where a nationalised version of History has become intrinsic to social support for the ruling Communist Party. In the short term, COVID-19 has created problems for several populist leaders, whose image has suffered amidst the public's new-found respect for expertise and unfavourable comparisons with less shouty politicians who have handled the pandemic differently. Yet, with the looming risk of an extended economic depression, Burleigh fears that new post-populists may arise in the long run.
In the decades since the end of the Second World War, it has been widely assumed that the western model of liberal democracy and free trade is the way the world should be governed. However, events in the early years of the twenty-first century - first, the 2003 war with Iraq and its chaotic aftermath and, second, the financial crash of 2008 - have…
The book was initially published in Great Britain by Macmillan, highlighting its roots in a prominent publishing house. This detail underscores the book's potential significance and credibility within the literary landscape.
The collapse of Western colonial empires after the Second World War led to any number of vicious struggles for power whose bloody consequences haunt us still. Acclaimed historian Michael Burleigh's brilliant analytic skills and clear eye for common themes underpins this powerful account of those struggles. He takes us on a historical journey from Palestine to Pakistan, from Cuba to Indo-China and reframes mid-20th century history by forcing us to look away from the Cold War to the hot wars that continue to afflict us. The result is a dazzling work of history, which examines the death of colonialism with passion, insight and genuine understanding of what it feels like to be caught in the middle of realpolitik.
This examination of the Second World War explores the moral sentiment of entire societies and their leaders, and how this changed under the impact of total war. Opening with the 'predators' - Hitler, Mussolini and Hirohito - Burleigh analyses the moral dimensions and the war's most important moments.
Distinguished historian and acclaimed author of "Earthly Powers" and "The Third Reich" offers a sweeping, deeply insightful history of terrorism from its 19th-century European and American origins to today's global threat fueled by fundamentalists. color photo insert.
Populated by many of the most iconic figures of the twentieth-century, Sacred
Causes' provides a brilliant examination of how religion has shaped twentieth-
century Europe from the Great War until the modern-day War on Terror'.
