Richard Overy
The Terrors of Totalitarianism
Hope and Memory: Reflections on the Twentieth Century
By Tzvetan Todorov (Trans David Bellos)
Atlantic Books 337pp £22 order from our bookshop
THIS IS NOT the first book, by any means, that sets due to answer the riddle of the twentieth century: How was it possible, in an age that prided itself on social progress and scientific advance, that Europe could be plunged into total war twice and spawn totalitarian regimes bloodier than any other in history? Not the first, but almost certainly one of the most challenging. After reading this provocative and supremely intelligent explanation, the paradoxes of the last century start to become comprehensible.
Todorov takes as his main theme totalitarianism. This is, he believes, the essential, fundamental 'event' of the century because it juxtaposed a repressive and vicious collectivism against the humanistic and individualist heritage at the heart of
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
'The trouble seems to be that we are not asked to read this author, reading being a thing of the past. We are asked to decode him.'
From the archive, Derek Mahon peruses the early short fiction of Thomas Pynchon.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/rock-n-roll-is-here-to-stay
'There are at least two dozen members of the House of Commons today whose names I cannot read without laughing because I know what poseurs and place-seekers they are.'
From the archive, Christopher Hitchens on the Oxford Union.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/mother-of-unions
Chuffed to be on the Curiosity Pill 2020 round-up for my @Lit_Review piece on swimming, which I cannot wait to get back to after 10+ months away https://literaryreview.co.uk/different-strokes https://twitter.com/RNGCrit/status/1351922254687383553