For a non-fiction work, this book has got to be
the most awful horror story that I’ve ever seen. It makes The Road, a horrific post-apocalyptic story by Cormac McCarthy seem
tame in comparison. Savage Continent,
Europe in the Aftermath of World War II by Keith Lowe is a remarkable work
for capturing the turmoil and chaos that the entire continent of Europe faced
when the war came to an end. At least 35,000,000 people were killed in the war,
and some estimates make that as high as 50,000,000. Governments had collapsed.
All forms of infrastructure had been totally destroyed in the course of the fighting. There was too little
food and water. Lowe has done a masterful job of making all of this
understandable as he reviewed the losses faced by citizens of every country. It
is hard to imagine that those who survived the war had the wherewithal to
manage their circumstances after the war. Many did not live through these
ongoing challenges which included the continuing ethic cleansing that continued to
occur in pockets of various countries. The displacement of citizens makes the
current refugee movements from the Middle East, Africa and Central America seem
minor in comparison. I am a student of history, and this book cogently paints a
picture that I had never previously fully appreciated.
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