Crucible: Thirteen Months that Forged Our World
The Times Book of the Year
BBC History Magazine Book of the Year
Daily Telegraph Book of the Year
BOOK OF THE WEEK - The Times


‘The strength of this book lies in the cold realities it delivers. “The thirteen months of 1947-48,” writes Fenby, “provide trenchant examples of how realpolitik can serve a wider purpose if those in power know how to use it.” Crucible captures perfectly the urgency of the time…Read this book for the light it shines on a turbulent time; cherish it for the lessons it provides’ - Gerard DeGroot

'Looking back 70 years Jonathan Fenby argues convincingly that the period from 1947 to 1948 “really did change the world”.  His book is an assured gallop across the terrain of contemporary history in this fateful year. The global devastation of the second world war had smashed longstanding institutions and bankrupted empires, leaving behind the kind of power vacuums that were major openings for change and chaos.  Crucible swings from one region to the next in a fast-moving account of how local actors filled those vacuums, often with violence.’
Mary Sarote, Financial Times

One year shaped the world we know today. This is the page-turning story of the pivotal changes which were forged in the space of thirteen months of 1947-48 

Two years after the end of the second conflict to engulf the world in twenty years, and the defeat of the Axis forces of Germany, Italy and Japan, this momentous time saw the unrolling of the Cold War between Joseph Stalin's Soviet Russia and the Western powers under the untried leadership of Harry Truman as America came to play a global role for the first time.

The British Empire began its demise with the birth of the Indian and Pakistan republics with the flight of millions and wholesale slaughter as Vietnam, Indonesia and other colonies around the globe vied for freedom. 1948 also marked the creation of the state of Israel, the refugee flight of Palestinians and the first Arab-Israeli war as well as the victories of Communist armies that led to their final triumph in China, the coming of apartheid to South Africa, the division of Korea, major technological change and the rolling out of the welfare state against a backdrop of events that ensured the global order would never be the same again.
 

This dynamic narrative spans the planet with overlapping epic episodes featuring such historic figures as Truman and Marshall, Stalin and Molotov, Attlee and Bevin, De Gaulle and Adenauer, Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek, Nehru and Jinnah, Ben Gurion and the Arab leaders. Between them, they forged the path to our modern world.
1129154900
Crucible: Thirteen Months that Forged Our World
The Times Book of the Year
BBC History Magazine Book of the Year
Daily Telegraph Book of the Year
BOOK OF THE WEEK - The Times


‘The strength of this book lies in the cold realities it delivers. “The thirteen months of 1947-48,” writes Fenby, “provide trenchant examples of how realpolitik can serve a wider purpose if those in power know how to use it.” Crucible captures perfectly the urgency of the time…Read this book for the light it shines on a turbulent time; cherish it for the lessons it provides’ - Gerard DeGroot

'Looking back 70 years Jonathan Fenby argues convincingly that the period from 1947 to 1948 “really did change the world”.  His book is an assured gallop across the terrain of contemporary history in this fateful year. The global devastation of the second world war had smashed longstanding institutions and bankrupted empires, leaving behind the kind of power vacuums that were major openings for change and chaos.  Crucible swings from one region to the next in a fast-moving account of how local actors filled those vacuums, often with violence.’
Mary Sarote, Financial Times

One year shaped the world we know today. This is the page-turning story of the pivotal changes which were forged in the space of thirteen months of 1947-48 

Two years after the end of the second conflict to engulf the world in twenty years, and the defeat of the Axis forces of Germany, Italy and Japan, this momentous time saw the unrolling of the Cold War between Joseph Stalin's Soviet Russia and the Western powers under the untried leadership of Harry Truman as America came to play a global role for the first time.

The British Empire began its demise with the birth of the Indian and Pakistan republics with the flight of millions and wholesale slaughter as Vietnam, Indonesia and other colonies around the globe vied for freedom. 1948 also marked the creation of the state of Israel, the refugee flight of Palestinians and the first Arab-Israeli war as well as the victories of Communist armies that led to their final triumph in China, the coming of apartheid to South Africa, the division of Korea, major technological change and the rolling out of the welfare state against a backdrop of events that ensured the global order would never be the same again.
 

This dynamic narrative spans the planet with overlapping epic episodes featuring such historic figures as Truman and Marshall, Stalin and Molotov, Attlee and Bevin, De Gaulle and Adenauer, Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek, Nehru and Jinnah, Ben Gurion and the Arab leaders. Between them, they forged the path to our modern world.
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Crucible: Thirteen Months that Forged Our World

Crucible: Thirteen Months that Forged Our World

by Jonathan Fenby
Crucible: Thirteen Months that Forged Our World

Crucible: Thirteen Months that Forged Our World

by Jonathan Fenby

eBook

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Overview

The Times Book of the Year
BBC History Magazine Book of the Year
Daily Telegraph Book of the Year
BOOK OF THE WEEK - The Times


‘The strength of this book lies in the cold realities it delivers. “The thirteen months of 1947-48,” writes Fenby, “provide trenchant examples of how realpolitik can serve a wider purpose if those in power know how to use it.” Crucible captures perfectly the urgency of the time…Read this book for the light it shines on a turbulent time; cherish it for the lessons it provides’ - Gerard DeGroot

'Looking back 70 years Jonathan Fenby argues convincingly that the period from 1947 to 1948 “really did change the world”.  His book is an assured gallop across the terrain of contemporary history in this fateful year. The global devastation of the second world war had smashed longstanding institutions and bankrupted empires, leaving behind the kind of power vacuums that were major openings for change and chaos.  Crucible swings from one region to the next in a fast-moving account of how local actors filled those vacuums, often with violence.’
Mary Sarote, Financial Times

One year shaped the world we know today. This is the page-turning story of the pivotal changes which were forged in the space of thirteen months of 1947-48 

Two years after the end of the second conflict to engulf the world in twenty years, and the defeat of the Axis forces of Germany, Italy and Japan, this momentous time saw the unrolling of the Cold War between Joseph Stalin's Soviet Russia and the Western powers under the untried leadership of Harry Truman as America came to play a global role for the first time.

The British Empire began its demise with the birth of the Indian and Pakistan republics with the flight of millions and wholesale slaughter as Vietnam, Indonesia and other colonies around the globe vied for freedom. 1948 also marked the creation of the state of Israel, the refugee flight of Palestinians and the first Arab-Israeli war as well as the victories of Communist armies that led to their final triumph in China, the coming of apartheid to South Africa, the division of Korea, major technological change and the rolling out of the welfare state against a backdrop of events that ensured the global order would never be the same again.
 

This dynamic narrative spans the planet with overlapping epic episodes featuring such historic figures as Truman and Marshall, Stalin and Molotov, Attlee and Bevin, De Gaulle and Adenauer, Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek, Nehru and Jinnah, Ben Gurion and the Arab leaders. Between them, they forged the path to our modern world.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781471155048
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Publication date: 06/28/2018
Sold by: SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format: eBook
Pages: 544
File size: 45 MB
Note: This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Jonathan Fenby is a former editor of the Observer, The South China Morning Post, and is a guest on many American news sites, including CNN. He is the author of several books including the acclaimed On the Brink: The Trouble with France and Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-Shek and the China He Lost. In 2013 Jonathan was awarded the Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur by the French government for his contribution towards understanding between Britain and France.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements xi

Preface xiii

Maps xxi

Part 1 A New World Order

1 Legacy of War 3

2 New Departures 15

3 The Superpowers 24

4 Allies and Adversaries 54

Part 2 June 1947

5 Power Polarisation 65

6 Volcano of Hidden Fires 78

7 Battle for Palestine 95

8 Annihilate the Enemy 108

Part 3 July 1947

9 A Matter of Friendship 127

10 Hanging On 144

11 Next Year in Jerusalem 162

Part 4 August 1947

12 The Birth of Two Nations 171

Part 5 September 1947

13 Land and Lives 191

14 Separate Camps 195

15 The General Reports 203

16 My Head Hangs in Shame 208

Part 6 October 1947

17 A Republic Under Siege 215

18 The Great Game 227

Part 7 November 1947

19 The Republic Shows Its Guts 237

20 Mission Accomplished 244

21 The Great Divide 252

22 Reviving Germany 256

Part 8 December 1947

23 Final Meeting 275

24 Bloody New Year 282

25 Christmas at War 285

26 A Higher Virtue 290

Part 9 January 1948

27 Harry and Ernie Set Out Their Stalls 303

28 A Snowstorm of Defeats 312

29 War and Assassination 318

30 Colonial Twilight 323

Part 10 February 1948

31 Closer to War 329

32 A Classic Coup 332

33 Model Colony Explodes 343

34 Three Ds for Japan 346

Part 11 March 1948

35 Death of a Minister 365

36 Critical Situation 371

37 Killings and Politics 375

38 The Great Reversal 381

39 Every Opportunity 386

Part 12 April 1948

40 Where Next? 391

41 East Asian Conflicts 408

42 Tapestry of Escalating Violence 419

Part 13 May 1948

43 The Birth of Israel 429

44 Asian Encounters 446

45 Changing of the Guard 449

46 European Confrontations 465

Part 14 June 1948

47 Truce 461

48 The President Takes a Trip 466

49 At Home in Our Land 469

50 Legacy of Partition 471

51 Emergency 473

52 Strategic Morass 476

53 Showdown 480

Part 15

54 From Then to Now 492

Cast List 503

Notes 515

Bibliography 549

Index 571

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