![]() ![]() If England had just "stepped aside," the author opines in one of his toweringly imaginative "counterfactuals," "continental Europe could have been transformed into something not wholly unlike the European Union we know today - but without the massive contraction in British overseas power entailed by the fighting of two world wars. (This idea is contrary to every considered opinion about the origin of World War I, which holds that it was German militarism that started the war.)įerguson further contends that it was England's decision to intervene - "nothing less than the greatest error of modern history" - that created the global conflict. Through a careful marshalling of economic and social evidence, along with charts, graphs and various forms of statistical aids, Ferguson attempts to show that because Germany (rightly) feared French and Russian militarism, it understandably made a preemptive strike against France in August 1914. ![]() Eschewing the narrative history form, Ferguson, a fellow in Modern History at Jesus College, Oxford and author of The House of Rothschild and Virtual History: Alternatives and Counterfactuals, offers a bold, revisionist account of the Great War. The Pity of War, by Niall Ferguson, is probably one of the most controversial histories to come along in decades. Reviewed by Chris Patsilelis, who frequently reviews books on military history. ![]()
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