The Fear and the Freedom: How the Second World War Changed Us (Hardback)

The Second World War was one of the most catastrophic events in human history. But how did the experience and memory of bloodshed affect our lives? The new order, as it emerged after 1945, saw the end of European empires and the birth of two new superpowers, in a new, global Cold War.

Scientists delivered new technologies, politicians fantasized about overhauled societies, some argued for global government, others for independence. It was an era of wonder and terror, and it resonates in the arguments about nationalism, immigration and globalisation that we have today.

As well as analyzing the major changes and they myths that emerged, The Fear and the Freedom uses individual stories to show how leaders and ordinary people coped with the post-war world and turned one of the greatest traumas in history into an opportunity for change.

This is the definitive exploration of the aftermath of WWII - and the impact it still has.

'Ceaselessly insightful, a masterpiece of historical inquiry.' - Sunday Telegraph