Welcome to our contemporary history section, where you'll find all our interviews and book recommendations relating to events that happened after 1945.
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The Non-Aligned Movement: Genesis Organization and Politics.
by Jurgen Dinkel -
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Southern Constellations: The Poetics of the Non-Aligned
by Bojana Piskur -
3
The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World
by Vijay Prashad -
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Race and the Yugoslav Region: Postsocialist, Post-Conflict, Postcolonial?
by Catherine Baker -
5
Worldmaking After Empire: The Rise and Fall of Self-Determination
by Adom Getachew
The best books on The Non-Aligned Movement, recommended by Paul Stubbs
The best books on The Non-Aligned Movement, recommended by Paul Stubbs
The Non-Aligned Movement was a loose alliance of more than 100 member states whose heyday was during the Cold War, though it continues to exist today. Here, sociologist Paul Stubbs chooses five books to illustrate the cultural, political and economic influence of the Non-Aligned Movement and argues the ideas that animated it are still of vital importance.
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A Brief History of Neoliberalism
by David Harvey -
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Globalists: The End of Empire and the Birth of Neoliberalism
by Quinn Slobodian -
3
The Birth of Biopolitics: Lectures at the Collège de France, 1978–1979
by Michel Foucault -
4
Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism's Stealth Revolution
by Wendy Brown -
5
Family Values: Between Neoliberalism and the New Social Conservatism
by Melinda Cooper
The best books on Neoliberalism, recommended by Gary Gerstle
The best books on Neoliberalism, recommended by Gary Gerstle
Neoliberalism is, arguably, the dominant political and economic ideology of the Western world, although its dominance is contested and the ills of the world are often laid at its door. Here Cambridge historian Gary Gerstle discusses five books that will help you understand neoliberalism’s origins, its ambitions and why it has been supported and opposed with such partisanship.
The best books on Bosnia, recommended by Velma Šarić
As a teenager, Velma Šarić’s hometown of Kladanj welcomed refugees from eastern Bosnia as it was bombed and shelled, her primary school eventually becoming a shelter for people fleeing the massacre at Srebenica. Now she runs Sarajevo’s Post-Conflict Research Centre, trying to prevent anything like it from ever happening again. She recommends books to read on the Bosnian War and explains that it was not a war between different communities, but rather an assault on the country’s multiethnic, multicultural identity.
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Brexitland: Identity, Diversity and the Reshaping of British Politics
by Maria Sobolewska & Robert Ford -
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There's Nothing For You Here
by Fiona Hill -
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Brexit and British Politics
by Anand Menon & Geoffrey Evans -
4
Listen, Liberal: or Whatever Happened to the Party of the People?
by Thomas Frank -
5
The British General Election of 2019
by Paula Surridge, Robert Ford, Tim Bale & Will Jennings
The best books on Brexit, recommended by Anand Menon
The best books on Brexit, recommended by Anand Menon
Brexit shook British politics in 2016 and, six years on, its long-term consequences both for the UK and for the European Union remain highly uncertain. Here political scientist and Brexit expert Anand Menon recommends books to help you understand Brexit, what caused it and why, and puts those trends in a wider global political context.
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Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement
by Barbara Ransby -
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God’s Long Summer: Stories of Faith and Civil Rights
by Charles Marsh -
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Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King Jr and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
by David J. Garrow -
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The Eyes on the Prize Civil Rights Reader: Documents, Speeches, and Firsthand Accounts from the Black Freedom Struggle
by Clayborne Carson, Darlene Clark Hine, David J. Garrow, Gerald Gill & Vincent Harding -
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The Autobiography of Malcolm X
by Malcolm X and assisted by Alex Haley, Laurence Fishburne (narrator)
The best books on The Civil Rights Era, recommended by Lerone Martin
The best books on The Civil Rights Era, recommended by Lerone Martin
The struggle for Black freedom in America has been going on since the first enslaved Africans were brought to the continent, but it was the civil rights era of 1954 to 1968 that finally resulted in a raft of legislation that gave equal citizenship to Black people in the United States. Here, Professor Lerone Martin of Stanford University recommends the best books to understand the American civil rights movement, with a focus on some of the individuals who were key to its success.
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The Cold War: A World History
by Odd Arne Westad -
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For the Soul of Mankind: The United States, the Soviet Union, and the Cold War
by Melvyn P Leffler -
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Russia and the Idea of the West
by Robert English -
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The Enigma of 1989: The USSR and the Liberation of Eastern Europe
Jacques Lévesque (trans. Keith Martin) -
5
Reagan and Gorbachev
by Jack Matlock
The best books on The Cold War, recommended by Archie Brown
The best books on The Cold War, recommended by Archie Brown
American military and economic superiority cannot explain why the Cold War came to an end in the late 1980s and early 1990s. According to the historian Archie Brown, you need to accept the primacy of politics and human agency both in the USSR and the West. He chooses five books to understand the Cold War and offers some broader reflections on the qualities of good political leadership—then and now.
The best books on The World Since 1978, recommended by Gideon Rachman
Most British prime ministers would probably have made the same decision as Tony Blair and followed George W. Bush into war in Iraq in 2003, says the FT’s chief foreign affairs commentator.
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Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy
by Serhii Plokhy -
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Producing Power: The Pre-Chernobyl History of the Soviet Nuclear Industry
by Sonja D Schmid -
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Voices From Chernobyl
by Svetlana Alexievich -
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Atomic Spaces: Living on the Manhattan Project
by Peter Bacon Hales -
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The Politics of Invisibility: Public Knowledge about Radiation Health Effects after Chernobyl
by Olga Kuchinskaya
The best books on Chernobyl, recommended by Kate Brown
The best books on Chernobyl, recommended by Kate Brown
While widely regarded as the world’s worst nuclear accident, Chernobyl’s legacy remains fiercely contested, with death tolls ranging from 31 to 200,000. MIT historian Kate Brown, who has spent years in the Chernobyl archives, picks the best books on the disaster, compares its impact with atomic bomb testing, and argues for more research into low-dose radiation exposure
The Best Vietnam War Books, recommended by Karl Marlantes
In 1968 Karl Marlantes was a 22-year old Rhodes scholar and did not have to go to Vietnam. He nonetheless joined the US Marine Corps, ending up with multiple medals but also lifelong PTSD. In this interview, he recommends the best Vietnam War books, exploring its moral ambiguities, the warrior mentality and the humanity of ‘the enemy.’
The best books on The Fall of Communism, recommended by Nick Thorpe
Five recommendations from the BBC’s Central Europe correspondent, who witnessed the collapse of Yugoslavia, popular uprisings in Bulgaria and Serbia, and the transformation of non-violent to violent resistance in Kosovo
The best books on The History of the Present, recommended by Timothy Garton Ash
Historian and journalist Timothy Garton Ash describes the “mongrel genre” between reportage and scholarship and says using the historian’s tools to analyse the present is a vital undertaking
The best books on Europe, recommended by Philippe Legrain
Europe should be run for all Europeans and not just the French and German banks, argues the author of European Spring, Philippe Legrain. He recommends the best books on Europe.
The best books on 1989, recommended by Mary Elise Sarotte
Mary Elise Sarotte, holder of the Kravis Chair in Historical Studies at Johns Hopkins, discusses five books on the end of the Cold War and East Germany’s attempts to grapple with its new future post-reunification
The best books on The Rwandan Genocide, recommended by Philip Gourevitch
The journalist and author of We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families, an account of the Rwandan genocide, explores five books on the events that left 800,000 dead in 100 days.
The best books on The Cultural Revolution, recommended by Roderick MacFarquhar
Countries do have to come to terms with their own history, and it’s unhealthy that China has not yet come to terms with the Cultural Revolution, argues the West’s leading scholar of the period, Roderick MacFarquhar. He chooses the best five books on the Cultural Revolution.
The best books on June 4th, 1989, recommended by Jeffrey Wasserstrom
In contrast to Eastern Europe, the 1989 protests in China did not lead to the overthrow of the Communist Party. But if China’s leaders chose the right course on June 4th, 1989, why are they still frightened to come to terms with it? Sinologist and historian Jeffrey Wasserstrom picks the best books to understand events at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square and around China on that hot summer night.
The best books on Viruses, recommended by Dorothy H. Crawford
Many of us have developed a new fascination for viruses and virology during the global COVID-19 crisis. Here, Dorothy Crawford, professor of medical microbiology and the author of Viruses: A Very Short Introduction, selects five of the best books on viruses for the general reader.
The best books on The Reagan Era, recommended by Doug Rossinow
Americans remember Reagan fondly, but what did the Gipper really stand for? The historian chooses the best books on Ronald Reagan and his time.
The best books on The Korean War, recommended by Bruce Cumings
Before Vietnam, America fought in the Korean War—but its role in that conflict has been far less examined. Award-winning historian Bruce Cumings talks about the misconceptions many people still hold, and how they distort our understanding of the current North Korean regime.
The best books on 9/11, recommended by Yosri Fouda
Who was Osama bin Laden? How critical was he to the 9/11 attacks on the United States? What happened in the first 100 days at Guantanamo Bay? Who was in charge of the United States when George W Bush went into hiding? What should we make of all the conspiracy theories that have sprung up around the events of that day? Yosri Fouda, the veteran Egyptian investigative reporter, author and TV host talks us through his choice of the best books on 9/11.
The best books on Osama bin Laden, recommended by Peter Bergen
Many thought that 9/11 was the start of an Al-Qaeda assault on the West, but it turned out to be Bin Laden’s Pearl Harbor – a victory that led to strategic defeat – says Peter Bergen, one of the few reporters who met the Saudi-born militant.
The best books on Origins of the Arab Uprising, recommended by Marc Lynch
The Middle East scholar tells us what to read if we’re to understand where upheaval in the Arab world came from, and where it’s going.
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Franklin D Roosevelt’s inaugural address, 4 March 1933
by Various authors -
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John F Kennedy’s inaugural address, 20 January 1961
by Various authors -
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Laurence Olivier’s Oscar Acceptance Speech (1979)
by YouTube video -
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Dr Martin Luther King, Jr’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, 28 August 1963
by Martin Luther King Jr -
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Nelson Mandela’s inaugural address as President of South Africa, 10 May 1994
by David Elliot Cohen
The Best Speeches of All Time, recommended by Clarence B Jones
The Best Speeches of All Time, recommended by Clarence B Jones
Which were the best speeches ever made? Clarence B Jones, lawyer, friend and adviser to Martin Luther King Jr—and contributor to the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech—chooses his top five, and explains what is that makes these famous speeches so good.
The best books on The 1970s, recommended by Andy Beckett
Andy Beckett’s choices point to a welcome reassessment of the 1970s, that much-maligned ‘gothic’ decade, and sweep from London to Los Angeles by way of Malcolm Bradbury and John le Carré
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Fall Out: A Year of Political Mayhem
by Tim Shipman -
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A History of Britain, Volume III: The Fate of the Empire 1776–2000
by Simon Schama -
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The Time of My Life
by Denis Healey -
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The Road to 1945: British Politics and the Second World War
by Paul Addison -
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Things Can Only Get Better: Eighteen Miserable Years in the Life of a Labour Supporter
by John O'Farrell
The best books on Modern British History, recommended by Andrew Hindmoor
The best books on Modern British History, recommended by Andrew Hindmoor
What will historians say about the latest period in British history? What has stayed the same, and what is vastly different from our parents’ generation? Andrew Hindmoor, professor of politics at the University of Sheffield and author of Twelve Days that Made Modern Britain, recommends books that give insights into contemporary British history.
The best books on France in the 1960s, recommended by Richard Wolin
The author and historian Richard Wolin explains that French people in the late 1960s were desperate for a utopian political alternative.
The best books on Social History of Post-War Britain, recommended by David Kynaston
Until the 1970s, Britain was predominantly a working class society, says the historian David Kynaston. He tells us about books that explore how this changed, giving rise to the turbulent Thatcher years.
The best books on Zionism and Anti-Zionism, recommended by Gabriel Piterberg
Israeli historian Gabriel Piterberg tells us about works of scholarship that have challenged the Zionist Israeli narrative of modern history.
Books on the History of International Relations, recommended by John Lewis Gaddis
Yale professor John Lewis Gaddis points to research showing that, contrary to widespread belief, Mao was regularly briefed on the famine he had caused
The best books on Pioneers of Intelligence Gathering, recommended by Michael Goodman
The senior lecturer in the Department of War Studies, King’s College London, chooses books on the real pioneers of British and American espionage – flawed men who saved lives and made a difference.
The best books on 20th Century Russia, recommended by Francis Spufford
Reading about Russia’s 20th century is like finding another vision of how the world might have been. Francis Spufford, author of Red Plenty, recommends books that tell the story of Russia in the last century — from Soviet science fiction set in capitalist wastelands to Khrushchev as raconteur.
The best books on Conflict in the Caucasus, recommended by Thomas de Waal
Acknowledged expert on the unresolved conflicts of the South Caucasus selects five books that encapsulate the fragility of the region and the impact of the desperate scramble for the spoils of the Soviet Union