New Releases by John Lukacs

The world-shaping relationship between Churchill and FDR got off to a rocky start.

A man of impressive mental powers, of extraordinary intellectual range, and-last but not least-of exceptional integrity, George Frost Kennan (1904-2005) was an adviser to presidents and secretaries of state, with a decisive role in the history of this country (and of the entire world) for a few crucial years in the 1940s, after which he was made to retire; but then he became a scholar who wrote seventeen books, scores of essays and articles, and a Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir. He also wrote remarkable public lectures and many thousands of incisive letters, laying down his pen only in the hundredth year of his life.Having risen within the American Foreign Service and been posted to various European capitals, and twice to Moscow, Kennan was called back to Washington in 1946, where he helped to inspire the Truman Doctrine and draft the Marshall Plan. Among other things, he wrote the “X” or “Containment” article for which he became, and still is, world famous (an article which he regarded as not very important and liable to misreading). John Lukacs describes the development and the essence of Kennan’s thinking; the-perhaps unavoidable-misinterpretations of his advocacies; his self-imposed task as a leading realist critic during the Cold War; and the importance of his work as a historian during the second half of his long life.

Lukacs si pone il problema di come la democrazia del nostro tempo sia progressivamente cambiata, rendendosi sempre più vulnerabile alle sirene della demagogia. Egli analizza i contrapposti sistemi politici che hanno attraversato il Novecento: liberalismo, nazionalismo, fascismo, bolscevismo, nazismo. Riflettendo sulla democrazia americana, ne descrive l''evoluzione dal Settecento a oggi come una progressiva deriva verso un pericoloso e forse irreversibile populismo, segnato, fra l''altro, dal prevalere del sentimento popolare sulla razionalità. Tale involuzione è avvenuta attraverso mezzi sempre più potenti e invasivi: la pubblicità (che ha sostituito la propaganda), l''intrattenimento (in luogo della conoscenza) e l''ideologia (figlia degenere del senso della storia). È questa decadenza spirituale che rende così precaria la democrazia attuale.

"This intensely interesting-and troubling-book is the product of a lifetime of reflection and study of democracy. In it, John Lukacs addresses the questions of how our democracy has changed and why we have become vulnerable to the shallowest possible demagoguery. Lukacs contrasts the political systems, movements, and ideologies that have bedeviled the twentieth century: democracy, Liberalism, nationalism, fascism, Bolshevism, National Socialism, populism. Reflecting on American democracy, Lukacs describes its evolution from the eighteenth century to its current form-a dangerous and possibly irreversible populism. This involves, among other things, the predominance of popular sentiment over what used to be public opinion. This devolution has happened through the gigantic machinery of publicity, substituting propaganda-and entertainment-for knowledge, and ideology for a sense of history. It is a kind of populism that relies on nationalism and militarism to hold society together. Lukacs''s observations are original, biting, timely, sure to inspire lively debate about the precarious state of American democracy today." http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0618/2004058450-d.html.

"Remembered Past draws together Lukac''s diverse and wide-ranging writings on a variety of interrelated topics. The volume serves at once as an introduction to essential aspects of Lukac''s thought and as an indispensable compendium of his most enduring pieces, many of which have until now been uncollected or located in out-of-print volumes." -- Back cover

An eminent historian offers his views on American democracy In A New Republic, one of America''s most respected historians offers a major statement on the nature of our political system and a critical look at the underpinnings of our society. American democracy, says John Lukacs, has been transformed from an exercise in individual freedom and opportunity to a bureaucratic system created by and for the dominance of special groups. His book, first published in 1984 as Outgrowing Democracy, is now reissued with a new introduction, in which Lukacs explains his methodology, and a new final chapter, which sums up Lukacs''s thoughts on American democracy today. Reviews of the earlier edition "A rich, subtle, and often ingenious argument . . . an eloquent, provocative, but disturbing book."--Edwin M. Yoder, Jr., Washington Post Book World "Mr. Lukacs is an original and subtle historian, and [this book] is an engaging intellectual surprise party. . . . I was continuously enchanted by the play of his ideas--by the sharpness of his distinctions and the acuteness of his descriptions."--Naomi Bliven, New Yorker "It has been a long time since Americans were offered such a provocative interpretation of their historical predicament. . . . We would be foolish not to examine it closely."--Laurence Tool, Society

Analisa as múltiplas facetas do estadista Winston Churchill, descrevendo sua atuação política e os erros e acertos de sua carreira. Comenta as relações de Churchill com Roosevelt, Stálin e Eisenhower.

“Lukacs convincingly portrays a leader of an empire in irreversible decline and a towering, if flawed, hero of our time.”—Publishers Weekly In previous works, John Lukacs told the story of Winston Churchill’s titanic struggle with Adolf Hitler in the early days of World War II. Now, he turns his attention to the man himself, the workings of his historical imagination, and his successes and failures as a visionary statesman. Chapter by chapter, Lukacs assesses Churchill’s vital relationships with Stalin, Roosevelt, and Eisenhower; his complex, farsighted political vision concerning the coming of WWII and the Cold War; his abilities as a historian looking backward into the origins of the conflicts of which he was so much a part; and the often contradictory ways in which he has been perceived by critics and admirers alike. In addition, Lukacs describes his three days spent in London attending Churchill’s funeral in 1965. “Superb…[a] tour de force.”—Foreign Affairs “Lukacs’ ability to meld the scholarly with the popular is much in evidence here.”—Booklist

"Senhores, a ofensiva contra as potências ocidentais começou." Estas foram as palavras de Adolf Hitler a seus subordinados no dia 10 de maio de 1940. Seu plano era, invadindo os Países Baixos, chegar à França e, então, à Inglaterra. No mesmo dia, Churchill assumia o cargo de primeiro-ministro da Grã-Bretanha. Este é um relato fiel dos 80 dias do duelo travado em 1940 entre Adolf Hitler - na iminência de uma vitória absoluta - e Winston Churchill - ameaçado de ver a Inglaterra invadida e a guerra perdida. Durante esses 80 dias, apenas Churchill se colocou no caminho de Hitler para impedir que ele ganhasse a guerra. Desse duelo dependeram a Segunda Guerra Mundial e o destino do mundo.

At the End of an Age is a deeply informed and rewarding reflection on the nature of historical and scientific knowledge. Of extraordinary philosophical, religious, and historical scope, it is the product of a great historian''s lifetime of thought on the subject of his discipline and the human condition. While running counter to most of the accepted ideas and doctrines of our time, it offers a compelling framework for understanding history, science, and man''s capacity for self-knowledge.In this work, John Lukacs describes how we in the Western world have now been living through the ending of an entire historical age that began in Western Europe about five hundred years ago. Unlike people during the ending of the Middle Ages or the Roman empire, we can know where we are. But how and what is it that we know?In John Lukacs''s view, there is no science apart from scientists, and all of "Science," including our view of the universe, is a human creation, imagined and defined by fallible human beings in a historical continuum. This radical and reactionary assertion-in its way a summa of the author''s thinking, expressed here and there in many of his previous twenty-odd books-leads to his fundamental assertion that, contrary to all existing cosmological doctrines and theories, it is this earth which is the very center of the universe-the only universe we know and can know.

Du 24 au 28 mai 1940, après la défaite de l''armée britannique à Dunkerque, les hauts responsables politiques influencés par Winston Churchill vont décider de ne pas négocier avec Hitler et de continuer le combat en lançant une série de batailles à l''issue incertaine.

This is a day-by-day account of the eighty-day struggle in 1940 between Hitler--poised on the edge of absolute victory--and Churchill--threatened by imminent invasion and defeat--on the eve of the second World War. "A masterful book--masterful in its portrayal of its protagonists, masterful in its overall understanding of the death-struggle in which they engaged, masterful, above all, in its vivid, suspenseful chronicling of the most momentous eighty days in the history of this century." --Geoffrey Ward"This is a marvelous book. John Lukacs has lucid, unsentimental insight into the mind and character of both Churchill and Hitler." --Conor Cruise O''Brien"A wonderful story wonderfully told." --George F. Will"It is salutary to be reminded in this powerful study how close Hitler came to winning in 1940. . . . An impressive study . . . [written] with elegance and panache." --Peter Stansky, New York Times"A master of narrative history on a par with Barbara Tuchman and Garrett Mattingly." --Kirkus Reviews

Descreve como o primeiro-ministro inglês Winston Churchill evitou que Adolf Hitler ganhasse a II Guerra Mundial, ao decidir manter a Grã-Bretanha em guerra contra o Terceiro Reich, enquanto os alemães lutavam na União Soviética e os Estados Unidos entrassem em conflito.

The author "explains what the study of history entails, how it has been approached over the centuries, and why it should be undertaken by today''s students."--Page 4 of cover.

The distinguished historian and writer describes the development of his own convictions and beliefs. -- Back cover.

The days from May 24 to May 28, 1940, altered the course of history of this century, as the members of the British War Cabinet debated whether to negotiate with or to continue the war against Hitler.

A “gripping [and] splendidly readable” portrait of the battle within the British War Cabinet—and Churchill’s eventual victory—as Hitler’s shadow loomed (The Boston Globe). From May 24 to May 28, 1940, members of Britain’s War Cabinet debated whether to negotiate with Hitler or to continue what became known as the Second World War. In this magisterial work, John Lukacs takes us hour by hour into the critical events at 10 Downing Street, where Winston Churchill and his cabinet painfully considered their responsibilities. With the unfolding of the disaster at Dunkirk, and Churchill being in office for just two weeks and treated with derision by many, he did not have an easy time making his case—but the people of Britain were increasingly on his side, and he would prevail. This compelling narrative, a Washington Post bestseller, is the first to convey the drama and world-changing importance of those days. “[A] fascinating work of historical reconstruction.”—The Wall Street Journal “Eminent historian Lukacs delivers the crown jewel to his long and distinguished career.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) “A must for every World War II buff.”—Cleveland Plain Dealer “Superb…can be compared to such classics as Hugh Trevor-Roper’s The Last Days of Hitler and Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns of August.”—Harper’s Magazine