E–book [The Vertigo Years Europe 1900 1914] Ì Philipp Blom

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The Vertigo Years Europe 1900 1914 Read & Download ☆ PDF, DOC, TXT or eBook Read The Vertigo Years Europe 1900 1914 Repercussions of the Industrial Revolution were felt worldwide Cities grew like never before as people fled the countryside and their traditional identities; science created new possibilities as well as nightmares; education changed the outlook of millions of people; mass produced items transformed daily life; industrial laborers demanded a share of political power; and women sought to change their place in society as well as the very fabric of sexual relationsFrom the tremendous hope for a new century embodied in the. The Vertigo Years is a thematic exploration of the world before the Great War The events of each year of the period inspires the contemplation of a different theme1900 France1901 Europe s aristocrats in their twilight of greatness1902 Austria Hungary and Sigmund Freud s psychoanalysis1903 the new science particularly physics1904 the Europeans in Africa particularly the Belgians in the Congo1905 Russia1906 Europe s militaries1907 the Bohemian fringe pacifists nudists Madame Blavatsky and friends1908 the women with stones the Suffragettes1909 machines and speed1910 the arts1911 popular culture1912 eugenics1913 crime and insanity1914 summation on the world that was run over by a bus to uote the late historian George Dangerfield It s probably not the first book on the period I d hand someone who didn t know much about the era due to its thematic nature but it might be the second

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The Vertigo Years Europe 1900 1914 Read & Download ☆ PDF, DOC, TXT or eBook Read The Vertigo Years Europe 1900 1914 1900 World’s Fair in Paris to the shattering assassination of a Habsburg archduke in Sarajevo in 1914 historian Philipp Blom chronicles this extraordinary epoch year by year Prime Ministers and peasants anarchists and actresses scientists and psychopaths intermingle on the stage of a new century in this portrait of an opulent unstable age on the brink of disasterBeautifully written and replete with deftly told anecdotes The Vertigo Years brings the wonders horrors and fears of the early twentieth century vividly to li. This is a different kind of history book as the author does not confine himself to the causes leading up to WWI but rather what was happening across Europe at all levels of society and thought Each chapter concentrates on a specific year and addresses a particular issue which was in flux at the timeIt becomes a bit pedantic but generally is a uniue and interesting approach to a changing world

The Vertigo Years Europe 1900 1914 Read & Download ☆ PDF, DOC, TXT or eBook Read The Vertigo Years Europe 1900 1914 Europe 1900–1914 a world adrift a pulsating era of creativity and contradictions The major topics of the day terrorism globalization immigration consumerism the collapse of moral values and the rivalry of superpowers The twentieth century was not born in the trenches of the Somme or Passchendaele but rather in the fifteen vertiginous years preceding World War IIn this short span of time a new world order was emerging in ultimately tragic contradiction to the old These were the years in which the political and personal. As I have read this book thanks to Kris Rabberman it is to her that I shall dedicate my review And since it is also her birthday today January 22nd this is my gift to herThis book has a smart and clear structure Blom has taken the fifteen years that preceded WW1 and surveyed the key cultural and social aspects that mostly in Europe accompanied the political events that led to the declaration of the Great War These were times of rapid change The relative political and diplomatic weight of the major European countries shifted as these dancers changed partners at every turn Economics also moved in its rankings If Britain was number one for its economic power it became number three and Germany number two in a disconcertingly short time For the population at large social structures and novel cultural production made them feel they were losing their balance as their reference poles proved planted on uicksandBlom s account however is extremely well balanced You possible reader will not fall even if Blom succeeds in making you feel this old vertigo Of course the rate of change for our society has increased so tremendously that this dated vertigo will seem a mellow oscillation But the giddiness felt by the population of the mostly Western world back then was a disturbing and exhilarating reality Blom takes up the 15 chronological chapters and treats each one as a conceptual fan that he unfolds and develops His ordered treatment of time is very skilfully combined with a thematic approach resulting in a very engaging reading Chronological then but not a dry chronicleFrom early on we are presented with the technological and chemical advances such as electricity telecommunications medical euipment X Rays and the Magic Mountain anyone transport with cycling rolling or flying machines and the continued expansion of the railways But these advances are discussed most interestingly in the context of how they affected the way humans related to each other One of these effects is that China Japan and Eastern Russia uite rapidly entered the euro centric consciousnessBlom offers us also a survey of the social classes with particular attention to the now uaint upper classes and high nobility with their emphasis on uniforms difficult not to laugh at some portraits of Wilhelm II This was a world in which military connotations were still held in high esteem Ships were not just transport but a proud sign of naval powerThis power of the Powers was also unuestioned given that they needed to keep order in their backyards in other continents These were held by the overall population in great pride Peculiar times were these when monarchs had their own private rubber plantations in the centre of Africa although they used management resources that belonged to the Nation It is in this context that Blom expands on the new uasi anonymous power developed as journalism and newspapers grew and he introduces us to the brave Edward Dene Morel and Roger Casement with a riveting accountOther sectors of society also fought for their power The discussion on the suffragettes is one of the best in the book Blom gives a wide and well balanced overview of how this movement fared in different countries not just in the UK Other social groups were the new pacifists focusing either on the two Hague conferences with the extraordinary Baroness Suttner or on the wild Wandervogel and similar movements in the wild woods of central EuropeSome parts are harder reads Eugenics is not avoided by the writer and has to be swallowed by the reader But these are balanced by the always entertaining account of the Modernist artists Close to these we get an excellent explanation of the very modern malaise of Newyorktitis or what the fashionable concept of neurasth nie entailed any Proustians out there This leads Blom to expand on an excellent overview of the emerging studies in psychology and which is not a Freud For Dummies I have read this book in relation to the project on commemorating the centennial of WW1 but this is an excellent read for those interested in Modernism if they wish a closer look at the historical context in which the rich art movement developed