The War of the World (N. Ferguson) - 6x

The War of the World is a major new history of the 20th century by acclaimed and controversial historian Professor Niall Ferguson, described by The Times as the “most brilliant British historian of his generation”. We think we know the last century well, but our view of it was skewed by the fact that we were living through it.

According to Niall Ferguson, we need to rethink our understanding of the 20th century. There were not, he says, two world wars and a ‘cold’ war, but a single Hundred Years’ War. It was not nationalism that powered these conflicts, but empires. The driving force was not class or socialism – race was. And finally, it was not the West that triumphed; in fact, power slowly and steadily migrated towards the new empires of the East.

Based on noted historian and commentator Niall Ferguson’s book this series on PBS is quite enlightening and fascinating. It breaks apart our preconceived notions about the violent 20th Century, its many conflicts and root causes. How humans treated their earthly enemies as “aliens” or “subhumans” and drawing parallels with the prescient “The War of the Worlds” novel by H.G. Wells. As Niall explains the extreme violence of the 20th century can be explained by ethnic conflict, economic volatility and empires in decline. Let’s not forget the lessons of history.

Episode 1
The Clash of Empires
Controversial historian Professor Niall Ferguson brings an alternative perspective to the events of the 20th century, offering different explanations for the two world wars and the shifting balance of power as the 1900s progressed. He begins by studying the origins of World War One, arguing that the conflict sparked racial hatred which was exploited by nation states for their own ends

Episode 2
A Tainted Triumph
Professor Niall Ferguson examines the last years of World War Two, considering the terrible ethical compromises the Allied nations were forced to make to defeat their German and Japanese enemies, and the long-term consequences for the victors

Episode 3
The Icebox
Professor Niall Ferguson explains his theory on how, during the Cold War, World War Three actually took place. With the US and the Soviet Union unable to engage in battle with each other directly for fear of the nuclear consequences, Third World nations ended up serving as proxies for the superpowers, causing carnage to rival World War One

Episode 4
The Plan
Professor Niall Ferguson discusses how the US became the envy of the world in the aftermath of World War One, a state of affairs that was shattered by the Wall Street crash. He also considers the effect of the Great Depression on people’s attitudes to capitalism and democracy, and how it led to the rise of totalitarian states

Episode 5
Killing Space
Professor Niall Ferguson examines how the rise of the Axis powers led to a fundamental redrawing of the world map. He pinpoints 1942 as a pivotal year, and considers how the 20th century might have unfolded had World War Two ended differently, with totalitarian regimes dividing the globe between them

Episode 6
The Descent of the West
Professor Niall Ferguson concludes the series by challenging the received wisdom that the fall of the Berlin Wall represented ultimate triumph for Western values, pointing to racial conflict in the last decades of the 20th century. He also considers the possibility of a further global war in the future. Last in series


Book:
The War of the World, published in 2006, had been ten years in the making and is a comprehensive analysis of the savagery of the 20th century. Ferguson shows how a combination of economic volatility, decaying empires, psychopathic dictators, and racially/ethnically motivated (and institutionalized) violence resulted in the wars and the genocides of what he calls "History's Age of Hatred". The New York Times Book Review named War of the World one of the 100 Notable Books of the Year in 2006, while the International Herald Tribune called it "one of the most intriguing attempts by an historian to explain man's inhumanity to man". Ferguson addresses the paradox that, though the 20th century was "so bloody", it was also "a time of unparalleled [economic] progress". As with his earlier work Empire, War of the World was accompanied by a Channel 4 television series presented by Ferguson.

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