Modern Times
The World from the Twenties to the Eighties

An agnostic wag once said, "Any fool can make fun of evangelicals, but if you really want to see a crazed doctrine, look for a conservative Catholic, preferably a conservative Jesuit." This certainly holds true for Paul Johnson, who mars what could have been a superbly written book of breathtaking s......more

CONFESSIONS OF A HISTORY ADDICT Knowing my wife isn't keen on reading history I certainly noticed when she added 'Modern Times The World from the Twenties to the Nineties' to the take-to-the-used-bookstore pile. When I queried what she was doing with a history book (hopefully not too offensively)? sh......more

A momentous project-painstakingly researched and vast in scope with attention to detail this is one of the best one volume books covering the world history of the 20th century. A conservative perspective and therefore unlikely to be recommended reading in most university courses, which is all the mor......more

I really enjoyed this conservative take on 20th century history. The book claims to cover the Twenties to the Nineties, but really it was published in 1984* and the narrative stops at around 1980. Nevertheless, the breadth of the book is amazing, covering not just this wide time period but events acr......more

There are not many books that I think everyone should read, but this in one such book. Even though the book ends in the 1990s, Paul Johnson's insightful analysis of the history of the 20th century gives the reader a new way of understanding how the world came to be the way it is, and what the politi......more