A marvelous global history of the pivotal year 1945 as a new world emerged from the ruins of World War IIYear Zero is a landmark reckoning with the great drama that ensued after war came to an end in 1945. One world had ended and a new; uncertain one was beginning. Regime change had come on a global scale: across Asia (including China; Korea; Indochina; and the Philippines; and of course Japan) and all of continental Europe. Out of the often vicious power struggles that ensued emerged the modern world as we know it.In human terms; the scale of transformation is almost impossible to imagine. Great cities around the world lay in ruins; their populations decimated; displaced; starving. Harsh revenge was meted out on a wide scale; and the ground was laid for much horror to come. At the same time; in the wake of unspeakable loss; the euphoria of the liberated was extraordinary; and the revelry unprecedented. The postwar years gave rise to the European welfare state; the United Nations; decolonization; Japanese pacifism; and the European Union. Social; cultural; and political “reeducation†was imposed on vanquished by victors on a scale that also had no historical precedent. Much that was done was ill advised; but in hindsight; as Ian Buruma shows us; these efforts were in fact relatively enlightened; humane; and effective.A poignant grace note throughout this history is Buruma’s own father’s story. Seized by the Nazis during the occupation of Holland; he spent much of the war in Berlin as a laborer; and by war’s end was literally hiding in the rubble of a flattened city; having barely managed to survive starvation rations; Allied bombing; and Soviet shock troops when the end came. His journey home and attempted reentry into “normalcy†stand in many ways for his generation’s experience.A work of enormous range and stirring human drama; conjuring both the Asian and European theaters with equal fluency; Year Zero is a book that Ian Buruma is perhaps uniquely positioned to write. It is surely his masterpiece.
#178280 in Books Trebincevic Kenan 2014-02-25 2014-02-25Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 7.80 x .60 x 5.10l; .50 #File Name: 0143124579336 pagesThe Bosnia List A Memoir of War Exile and Return
Review
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful. Amazing!!!!By DanielleStop everything and order this book. It is such a riveting story and account of love; hope; and forgiveness. A must read!2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. We all need to learn from historyBy George KolombatovichThis book tells the real story of what happened when Yugoslavs started killing each other. Far too few people know of the horrors that had to be endured by minorities. That so many Yugoslavians where killed and tortured just because they were of a different religion proves the stupidity of; for example; the Serbs in their attempt at killing all Muslems in Bosina. To bring such ignorance that is based on prejudices that go back to the Ottoman Empire is unbelievable in any civilized society. All should know that if a religion believes in the killing of human beings; those who believe in that should start the killing with a suicide.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Terrific memoir!By That guy..Today.Overall a great read and the really good memoir. It feels like this is a forgotten piece of European history the war in Bosnia. The author does a good job explaining certain situations and referencing personal experiences to make the reader understand what he was going through. Being roughly the same age as the author I find it compelling to see what he was going through and what I was dealing with here in the United States . I was worried about nothing compared to what this man went through during his childhood he had his family on his back and his country in his soul to get the reader to understand what the war in Bosnia was like. Thanks for writing the book
