Author:Keith Lowe
Keith Lowe's Savage Continent is an awe-inspiring portrait of how Europe emerged from the ashes of WWII.
The end of the Second World War saw a terrible explosion of violence across Europe. Prisoners murdered jailers. Soldiers visited atrocities on civilians. Resistance fighters killed and pilloried collaborators. Ethnic cleansing, civil war, rape and murder were rife in the days, months and years after hostilities ended. Exploring a Europe consumed by vengeance, Savage Continent is a shocking portrait of an until-now unacknowledged time of lawlessness and terror.
Praise for Savage Continent:
'Deeply harrowing, distinctly troubling. Moving, measured and provocative. A compelling and plausible picture of a continent physically and morally brutalized by slaughter' Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times
'Excellent', Independent
'Unbearable but essential. A serious account of things we never knew and our fathers would rather forget. Lowe's transparent prose makes it difficult to look away from a whole catalogue of horrors...you won't sleep afterwards. Such good history it keeps all the questions boiling in your mind', Scotsman
Keith Lowe is widely recognized as an authority on the Second World War, and has often spoken on TV and radio, both in Britain and the United States. He is the author of the critically acclaimed Inferno: The Devastation of Hamburg, 1943 (Penguin). He lives in north London with his wife and two children.
Grimly absorbing, conveys the pity of war and its sorry aftermath with integrity and proper sympathy
—— Ian Thomson , Sunday TelegraphMoving, measured and provocative
—— Dominic Sandbrook , Sunday TimesExtraordinary...exceptional...reveals a continent where moral values were often missing and basically lawlessness prevailed for several years
—— Trevor James , The HistorianSavage Continent is a powerful and disturbing book, painstakingly researched and written with both authority and an impressive historical sweep
—— James HollandA major new historical talent has arrived... a brilliantly organised and scrupulously objective survey of a continent on the floor
—— BBC History MagazineAn excellent account...Lowe's vivid descriptions of Europeans scrambling for scraps of food, rampant theft and 'destruction of morals' are a timely reminder that a certain humility is in order when we look at less fortunate continents today.
—— Brendan Simms , The IndependentImpressive and heart-rendering study...Lowe marshals all the elements of the story with cool even-handedness, especially where statistics are concerned, and explains how subsequent generations have manipulated the historical record to suit their own purposes, either to diminish their guilt or demonise others.
—— Christopher Silvester , Daily ExpressExtraordinary, disturbing and powerful ... it is to Lowe's great credit that he resists the temptation to sit in moral judgment ... it is time we acknowledged the hidden realities of perhaps the darkest chapter in all human history
—— Daily MailGraphic and chilling. This excellent book paints a little-known and frightening picture of a continent in the embrace of lawlessness and chaos
—— Ian KershawA superbly detailed account of a terrifying aspect of the Second World War
—— Simon Heffer , New Statesman BOOKS OF THE YEARAn extraordinary and far-reaching history ... the first full narrative of the bombing war in Europe ... Overy's scope is incredibly broad and well-researched, also highly readable
—— SpectatorThis is a tough, hardheaded and meticulous work of military history ... It is worth reading
—— Dan Jones , Telegraph BOOKS OF THE YEAROvery's history explains and explores strategy, tactics, technology and results in one seamless story that shatters myths and establishes truths
—— Nigel Jones , Sunday TelegraphUtterly fascinating ... What is most surprising in Overy's book is its remarkable contemporary relevance
—— Edward Luttwak , London Review of BooksThe first full narrative of the bombing war in Europe
—— Commander Barney White-Spunner , Country LifeSo did they reach the summit? It's anybody's guess. But all Wade Davis' experts in this fascinating book, shake their heads
—— Christopher Hudson , Daily MailUtterly fascinating, and grippingly well-written. With extraordinary skill Wade Davis manages to weave together such disparate strands as Queen Victoria's Indian Raj, the 'Great Game' of intrigue against Russia, the horrors of the Somme, and Britain's obsession to conquer the world's highest peak
—— Alistair HorneDavis’ descriptions of the trenches – the bodies, the smell, the madness – are some of the best I’ve ever read
—— William Leith , ScotsmanSheds new light on history that we thought we knew... meticulously detailed and very readable
—— David Willetts , New StatesmanThe miracle is that there isn’t a dull page. As it moves towards its deadly climax, the story hangs together as tightly as a thriller. Into the Silence is as monumental as the mountain that soars above it; small wonder that it won the 2012 Samuel Johnson prize for non-fiction … Once you start wandering the snowy passes with Mallory and the lads, you won’t want to come down again. There can be no better way, surely, to spend a week in winter
—— Arminta Wallace , Irish TimesHe sees the climbers as haunted dreamers, harrowed by their desperate experiences in the First World War, living amid romantic dreams of Imperial grandeur and the elemental, sublime grandeur of the mountain
—— Steve Barfield , LadyThis is the awesomely researched story of Mallory, Irvine and the early Everest expeditions. It puts their efforts and motivations into the context of Empire and the first world war in a way I don’t think previous books have ever managed
—— Chris Rushby , Norfolk MagazineA vivid depiction of a monumental story…Wade Davis’ passion for the book shines through and I can only hope that his next book doesn’t take as long to write as I will certainly be reading it
—— Glynis Allen , Living North