Prisoners of History: What Monuments to World War II Tell Us About Our History and Ourselves

Welcome to my review of Prisoners of History: What Monuments to World War II Tell Us About Our History and Ourselves

 

look at how our monuments to World War II shape the way we think about the war 

My thoughts

rating: 5

Would I recommend it? Yes

Would I read more my this author ? maybe

First off I want to say thank you to the publishers St. Martin's Press for the invite to read and review this as well as Netgalley, as soon as I saw what this book was I know I want to read it because of 2 things one it was history and 2 because of the topic which was WW 2, and I love to read both. And this was actual hard to read because it brings to life that in some place's we're actually doing this destroying the monuments that have stood for such a long time that their part of out history and past which makes it hard because its liking telling our family and friends that  in the different wars as well as WW 2 that what they fought for and died for doesn't count anymore that they give their lives for nothing, and that that piece of history  as well as them doesn't deserve to be remember. The way the author writes the stories of the each of the different monuments as well as as the history behind it goes to show just how much we need them to help us remember the past but also shows that we need to learn from our mistake, and while its  an disturbing, thought provoking and fascinating book  which also plays on our emotions it also a book  I would  highly recommend to read or just to a try to . 

A look at how our monuments to World War II shape the way we think about the war by an award-winning historian.

Keith Lowe, an award-winning author of books on WWII, saw monuments around the world taken down in political protest and began to wonder what monuments built to commemorate WWII say about us today. Focusing on these monuments, Prisoners of History looks at World War II and the way it still tangibly exists within our midst. He looks at all aspects of the war from the victors to the fallen, from the heroes to the villains, from the apocalypse to the rebuilding after devastation. He focuses on twenty-five monuments including The Motherland Calls in Russia, the US Marine Corps Memorial in the USA, Italy’s Shrine to the Fallen, China’s Nanjin Massacre Memorial, The A Bomb Dome in Hiroshima, the balcony at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem and The Liberation Route that runs from London to Berlin.

Unsurprisingly, he finds that different countries view the war differently. In monuments erected in the US, Lowe sees triumph and patriotic dedications to the heroes. In Europe, the monuments are melancholy, ambiguous and more often than not dedicated to the victims. In these differing international views of the war, Lowe sees the stone and metal expressions of sentiments that imprison us today with their unchangeable opinions. Published on the 75th anniversary of the end of the war, Prisoners of History is a 21st century view of a 20th century war that still haunts us today.