One year shaped the world we know today. This is the page-turning story of the pivotal changes which were forged in 1948. Two-&-a-half years after the end of the second conflict to engulf the civilised world in twenty years, & the defeat of the Axis forces of Germany, Italy & Japan, this pivotal time would plunge the world into a state of Cold War between the two superpowers that had filled the vacuum of Adolf Hitler: the brooding menace of Joseph Stalin`s Soviet Russia & the Western powers now under new leadership of Harry Truman of America, De Gaulle of France & Britain`s Clement Atlee. The British Empire would begin its quick demise beginning with the separation of the Sub Continent & the birth of the Indian & Pakistan republics, which would ultimately result in the repatriation of millions of peoples, wholesale slaughter of ethnic minorities, & the demise of Britain as a global superpower as South Africa, & other colonies around the globe vied for freedom. Finally, 1948 would mark the end of a long & vicious civil war in China as the communists finally prevailed. The world order would never be the same again. This will be a dynamic narrative, enabling the reader to leap across the globe from one epic tale to the next
- encountering historical figures such as Winston Churchill, Harry S. Truman, Ghandi, Mao Tse Tung, &, David Ben Gurian & providing a clear road map of how the world today was forged in this pivotal year. Praise for Jonathan Fenby: ` Brave & ambitious.` Times Literary Supplement ` Fenby writes with the authority of experience. There is much to enjoy in his fluently written history & much to learn from it too.` Literary Review `[ Fenby] is at his best when he teases out the tensions between the republican unifying ideal & the enduring divisions that periodically emerge.` The Economist ` Fenby positively gallops through a comprehensive account of France from 1789 until now. He has not selected only the juicy bits... He fills in what happens in between so that the narrative is complete. ` Independent