The World Aflame: A New History of War and Revolution: 1914-1945

by Dan Jones, Marina Amaral

Overview

A bestselling historian and a brilliant artist have combined their talents to create a stunning visual history of global war and revolution from 1914 to 1945.

Dan Jones and Marina Amaral tell the epic, harrowing, and world-changing story—in narrative form with colorized images—of global conflict from the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand to the obliteration of Hiroshima by the first atom bomb.

The World Aflame embraces not only the total conflagrations of 1914-1918 and 1939-1945 and the tensions, ideologies and economic forces that set them in motion, but also the revolutions in Russia; civil wars in Ireland and Spain; American interventions in Latin America, colonial wars in Morocco, Ethiopia, and Palestine; and events on the domestic ‘fronts’ of the belligerent nations.

A fusion of amazing pictures and well-chosen and informative words, The World Aflame offers a moving—and often terrifying—perspective on the bloodiest century in human history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781643132228
Publisher:	Pegasus Books
Publication date:	08/04/2020
Pages:	432
Sales rank:	77,699
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Dan Jones is a historian, broadcaster, and award-winning journalist. His New York Times bestselling books include The Plantagenets, Magna Carta, and The Templars. His writing often appears in the Wall Street Journal, Smithsonian, GQ, and the Spectator. He lives in Surrey, England.

Marina Amaral is a talented Brazilian artist who specializes in the colorization of historical photographs. Together, she and Dan Jones are the authors of The Color of Time, also available from Pegasus Books. She lives in Brazil.

Editorial Reviews

"Jones has brought the Plantagenets out of the shadows, revealing them in all their epic heroism and depravity. His is an engaging and readable account and researched with exacting standards. Compelling reading."

The Washington Post [praise for Dan Jones]

"Outstanding. Majestic in its sweep, compelling in its storytelling, this is narrative history at its best. A thrilling dynastic history of royal intrigues, violent skullduggery, and brutal warfare across two centuries of British history."

Simon Sebag Montefiore

"Fast-paced and accessible. The old-fashioned storytelling will be particularly appreciated by those who like their history red in tooth and claw."

The Wall Street Journal [praise for Dan Jones]

07/01/2020

In this poignant work, Jones and Amaral (The Color of Time) collaborate on their second work, this visual history of the global conflicts of the first half of the 20th century. The world wars take up a significant portion of this work, but the authors examine other violent conflicts from that era, including revolutions in Russian, civil wars in Spain and Ireland, and colonial wars. Jones, a historian and best-selling author, provides the narrative and examines the causes that made this era the most destructive in human history. Amaral, a Brazilian artist, contributes the most moving part of this work with her brilliant, colorized images of historical photographs. Despite its limitations, colorization works effectively in this book: the photos are more powerful and graphic in a way not revealed in the original black-and-white versions. Beyond presenting history, the authors state that this work is meant as a tribute to veterans and those who lived through those difficult times. Furthermore, it is meant to serve as a warning about the current state of the world and the result of the rise of racism, fascism, and nationalism. VERDICT Those who relish history and photography will appreciate this eloquent and artistic work.—Dave Pugl, Ela Area P.L., Lake Zurich, IL

Library Journal

2020-04-27
An image-driven history of the tumultuous period between and including the world wars.

Jones, an accomplished popular historian of the medieval era, turns to the recent past in this collaboration with Brazilian artist Amaral, who—following the lead of film director Peter Jackson and the World War I footage he restored in They Shall Not Grow Old—colorizes images from the years 1914 to 1945. That colorization, which Jones calls “an emotional enhancing agent,” serves to underscore just how recent this past is: When we look into the unblinking eyes of a dead German machine-gunner from 100 years ago, we could be looking at a neighbor. Jones rejects the idea of considering the period a “second Thirty Years War” even though many historians have traced the causes of both wars to antecedent events much like those of the past, including failed efforts at peace and imperial rivalries, marked here by an affecting portrait of the Archduke Ferdinand and Archduchess Sophie lying in state side by side after having been assassinated in Sarajevo. The text amounts to mostly a series of extended captions, but Jones capably limns some of the big-picture elements, including the Russian defeat at the Battle of Tannenberg, which helped precipitate the Russian Revolution and the rise of Hindenburg to power in Germany; and the Battle of the Marne, which halted a German offensive and caused the invaders to dig themselves into trench fortifications: “Little did they know what a trend they were setting.” Many of the photos are unsettling, even horrific, such as an image of a Japanese soldier’s skull that emblazoned the February 1943 issue of Life. Others, such as that of Brazilian singer and actor Carmen Miranda dancing on a Hollywood street on VJ-Day, are little known.

Fans of the companion volumes to Ken Burns’ film series will find this a familiar, and worthy, approach. (200 color photos)

Kirkus Reviews

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