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Gerard J. De Groot

Autor(a) de The Bomb: A Life

14+ Works 428 Membros 8 Reviews

About the Author

Gerard J. De Groot is a Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of Modern History at the University of St. Andrews.

Obras de Gerard J. De Groot

Associated Works

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Conhecimento Comum

Membros

Resenhas

Designed to be an introductory text to WW1, but it still assumes a great deal of prior knowledge. It's a good choice if you have a decent knowledge of world history and want a concise book on WW1. You'd be better off with a different book if you're looking for something for a student text or reference.
 
Marcado
mebrock | Oct 2, 2021 |
Sickening in many aspects, this book brings some of the atrocities of the Cold War to light. This book is mostly about the Atomic Bomb and the beginnings of the Atomic Age up to the Fall of the USSR in 1989. It talks of efforts to reduce the number of atom bombs and Thermonuclear Devices in service.

A fascinating account of the effects of the bomb on the collective consciousness of the world, it describes the bomb as a weapon, but one that should not be used. Early on in the life of the bomb it was realized that it was too destructive, yet more kept being made in the Arms Race between the USSR and the United States. The idea of Mutually Assured Destruction is tossed around a lot, and it talks of the naivety of the citizens that the government was supposed to protect.

The scientists working on the development of these weapons were varied in their views. Some hoped that such a device would end war altogether, but those were not usually the people in power. After the Atom Bomb, it was thought that a more powerful weapon was possible to be made, so they made it. The justification for all of this was that it was necessary to preserve their ways of life and the peace of their nations, but in the end all we got was a bankrupt USSR and a whole lot of out of work scientists.

Anyway, this book was really good. A lot of the stories had me shaking my head in anger.
… (mais)
 
Marcado
Floyd3345 | outras 3 resenhas | Jun 15, 2019 |
It is an ambitious project to attempt to cover the whole of a decade in one book and it felt like rather a big task to just read it. DeGroot's central premise is that the 1960s weren't the idealistic revolutionary decade that is looked back through rose tinted glasses and its legacy isn't necessary the things most people immediately think of. In his introduction, he admits that he can't include everything and whilst the USA forms the most of his text, he does cover events in other places too. For the most part I enjoyed the book and I think his assessment is very fair and well reasoned.

Probably one of the most interesting aspects of the book for me is the idea that rather than left-wing liberal ideas, it was the conservative movement that really took hold in this decade and would have the biggest impact on the future - this was the decade Regan went into politics which is an interest chapter here as is the part of conservative youth politics. I also found the chapters on the Provos in the Netherlands and Cesar Chavez interesting as I didn't know anything about them.

The weakest parts of the book were mainly the ones which I already knew quite a bit about. The chapter on mods was poorly written with the author seeming to confuse various English seaside towns as if they were one in the same place. Having read Mark Kurlansky's 1968 The Year that Rocked the World , I wasn't as interested in the sections on 1968. But these are small grumbles and overall I'm glad I read this book as it offered a different perspective on a well-worn subject.
… (mais)
 
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sanddancer | 1 outra resenha | Apr 22, 2011 |
A sort of American counterpart to Dominic Sandbrook's Never Had It So Good: A History of Britain from Suez to the Beatles, examining and in many cases debunking the rosy image presented to us of the 1960s as some sort of wave of free-spirited liberation that washed out the staid attitudes of the 1950s. It's certainly not the first book to take such an approach, but considering how deeply the idea in entrenched in popular perception, still welcome. Despite the at times cynical eye, I felt the subject matter was treated objectively, rather than conservative attack on the sacred cows of the left and liberalism.… (mais)
 
Marcado
kaisemic | 1 outra resenha | Jan 26, 2010 |

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Estatísticas

Obras
14
Also by
1
Membros
428
Popularidade
#57,056
Avaliação
½ 3.7
Resenhas
8
ISBNs
49
Idiomas
1

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