PositiveThe Evening Standard (UK)... stimulating ... it’s [Ferguson\'s] historical analysis of how disasters occur, rather than his crystal ball gazing, that’s the most interesting part of his book ... there many new insights here, notably that for all the criticisms levelled at Donald Trump, Boris Johnson and others, it’s facile to blame the person at the top for all that goes wrong when usually the real culprit in a catastrophe is a system failure ... Much of Ferguson’s story is told with zest, with extracts from Monty Python, Daniel Defoe and the poetry of John Donne deployed in the course of his arguments, although at other times his text is challenging ... I also wonder why a book published here by a British historian is presented in Americanese, even if Ferguson does now live in the US. Allen Lane would have done well to have produced an edition properly tailored to a domestic audience ... Its range seems strange at times too, with an analysis of US policy towards China, which Ferguson believes was broadly successful under Trump, at odds with earlier discussions of earthquakes and other natural disasters ... Each chapter of this thought-provoking book is worth reading for the ideas, perceptiveness and well-told stories of landmark events. The subject might not seem immediately appealing in such bleak times, but readers will find much to relish nonetheless.
Richard J. Evans
RaveThe Evening Standard (UK)This is a wonderful book that’s both hard to put down and brilliantly insightful in its analysis of the ways in which conspiracy theories and so-called \'alternative facts\' are constructed and justified - and why they’re such nonsense ... The established facts about each event, and why the conspiracists are wrong, are set out lucidly in succeeding chapters of detective style sifting of the evidence that provide enjoyably insightful reading in their own right. But at a time when social media is helping conspiracy theories spread rapidly and with claims of \'fake news\' predictably engulfing the US presidential campaign, the lessons that Evans imparts about how to distinguish truth from fiction have a universal value that stretches beyond improving knowledge about the detail of Nazi era controversies ... At times it’s possible to sense the exasperation felt by this eminent historian that he’s having to bother devoting energy to dismantling the claims of those whose methods are so much less rigorous than his own ... Indeed, the only reason not to pick up this book would be that the reader, like the author, has to spend time digesting the delusional fantasies of the various conspiracy theorists whose claims are so effectively rubbished inside. But Evans performs his task with such withering and entertaining wit that it’s worth putting up with the nonsense to enjoy the brilliant demolition.Towards the end , Evans highlights the undeservedly high ratings given on Amazon by reviewers of some of the books he’s trashed. But there’s no need to doubt the top marks that his book deserves. It’s a 5 out of 5 masterpiece.
Rutger Bregman
PositiveThe Evening Standard (UK)... [a] stimulating treatise on reshaping society, which arrives at a good moment for two reasons. The first is that the coronavirus crisis has largely displayed people at their best, while its impact has made many yearn for a more optimistic vision of the future. ... It’s a bold case that might seem delusional...[Bregman] makes his argument with panache, however, roving millennia to use evidence from hunter-gatherer societies and modern examples, while taking on the theories of writers such as Richard Dawkins and Steven Pinker ... There’s plenty of entertainment along the way in his snappy phrasing ... Some weaknesses creep in. Bregman wrongly claims that ideology played \'a remarkably small role\' in jihadists joining Islamic State; a suspiciously precise quote about a murder comes from a book criticised for its dramatised scenes; an assertion that playgrounds with slides and swings are \'a child’s nightmare\' is bizarre ... Nonetheless, many will sympathise with Bregman’s support for creativity in education, the removal of healthcare bureaucracy and greater autonomy in the workplace — all of which he believes can come from trusting more. Another concluding recommendation is to learn compassion through meditation. Bregman admits this sounds \'New-Agey\' and there’s that feel to some of this book ... Some will regard that as a warning. But maybe he’s right...Either way, as societies contemplate new ways of living in a post-coronavirus world, Bregman has given us much to consider.
