1946: The Making of the Modern World
- ISBN-10
- 1101910283
- ISBN-13
- 9781101910283
- Category
- History / United States / 20th Century
- Pages
- 480
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2016-11-29
- Publisher
- Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
- Author
- Victor Sebestyen
Description
A revelatory book about the year that would signal the beginning of the Cold War, the end of the British Empire, and the beginning of the rivalry between the United States and the USSR. Victor Sebestyen reveals the events of 1946 by chronologically framing what was taking place in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, with seminal decisions made by heads of state that would profoundly change the old order. Whether it was the bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, the Bikini Atoll underwater atomic bomb test, or the Great Calcutta Killings in India, 1946 was a year of seismic events. Sebestyen begins the week before Christmas 1945, when Stalin announced that the USSR would not withdraw its troops from Iran, and ends with Emperor Hirohito's official unveiling of Japan's new constitution. 1946 would see the map of Eastern Europe redrawn, Chinese communists gaining decisive victories, and the birth of Israel. Though Truman, Stalin, Churchill, MacArthur, Ben-Gurion, Hirohito, and Menachem Begin are part of the story, Sebestyen also writes about the enormous suffering and ongoing persecution of civilians in the aftermath of the war: the ethnic cleansing of the German population from Czechoslovakia and Poland; the rise of a violent new anti-Semitism; the civil wars in China and Greece; the mass starvation in Japan, Eastern Europe, and Germany on a scale not seen since the Middle Ages; the spread of diseases; and such total desolation that schools, government, and transportation were nonexistent and currency was worthless. Drawing on personal testimonies and new archival research, Sebestyen has written a vivid narrative that evokes the beginning of the Cold War in a devastated landscape of dystopian horrors.
Get the book
Other editions
Similar books
-
Slavery, Race, and American History: Historical Conflict, Trends, and Method, 1866-1953
By John David SmithSee George D. Terry , “ A Study of the Impact of the French Revolution and the Insurrections in Saint - Domingue ... iiin , 65n , 66n ; John D. Duncan , “ Servitude and Slavery in Colonial South Carolina , 1670–1776 " ( Ph.D. diss .
-
Class Struggle and the New Deal: Industrial Labor, Industrial Capital, and the State
By Rhonda F. LevineNew York : Macmillan , 1940 . Sherman , Howard J. Profits in the United States : An Introduction to a Study of Economic Concentration and Business Cycles . Ithaca , N.Y .: Cornell University Press , 1968 . Shively , W. Phillips .
-
The Watergate Crisis
By Michael A. GenoveseRecounts the events of the Watergate affair; identifies key players; and presents essays on its impact
-
The 1980s
By Bob Batchelor, Scott F. StoddartIn another first , Diahann Carroll joined the cast as Dominique Devereaux , a chanteuse once involved with Blake . Carroll's became the first African American to appear as a series regular on a major serial drama .
-
1927: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of the Jazz Age's Greatest Year
By Thomas S. HischakFrom January 1 to December 31 of 1927, the entries in this book cover every major news event—national and international—of this pivotal year in history.
-
The Vietnam Experience: A Concise Encyclopedia of American Literature, Songs, and Films
By Kevin Hillstrom, Laurie Collier HillstromHal Ashby Screenplay : Waldo Salt and Robert C. Jones ; based on a story by Nancy Dowd Principal Cast : Jane Fonda , Jon Voight , Bruce Dern , Penelope Milford , Robert Carradine Year of Release : 1978 ( United Artists ) American ...
-
1969: The Year Everything Changed
By Rob KirkpatrickDennis Wilson of the Beach Boys reportedly hooked up with two of Manson's female followers, and soon Manson and his Family had moved into Wilson's mansion, uninvited. While in prison, Manson had learned how to play guitar from Alvin ...
-
The Sixties
By Richard Avedon, Doon ArbusThe connection between all the rhetoric and all the poetry, between the words of a Black Panther and those of a rock star or a pacifist, between the scars of a pop artist and those of a napalm victim, have haunted and informed the ...
-
Change and Continuity in the 1984 Elections
By David W. Rohde, Paul R. Abramson, John H. Aldrich... Leslie - 11 Kleppner , Paul - 120 , 125 , 130 , 131 Kostroski , Warren Lee - 259 Kramer , Gerald H. - 205 - Ladd ... Jackman , Mary R. - 128 Jackman , Robert W. - 128 Jackson , Andrew - 73 , 292 Jackson , Brooks - 261 Jackson ...
-
Rise of Conservatism in America, 1945-2000 + Abraham Lincoln, Slavery, and the Civil War + Lyndon B. Johnson and American...
By Booker T Washington, Bruce Laurie, Professor of History Ronald StoryRise of Conservatism in America, 1945-2000 + Abraham Lincoln, Slavery, and the Civil War + Lyndon B. Johnson and American...