Nazism was a thoroughly European phenomenon, and in committing the unique crime of the Holocaust it posed questions that have still not been answered. There is plenty of glib talk about " European values"- but do they include the racist and anti-Semitic values that helped Hitler to power? If - as one hopes - they do not, how are " true" European values to be identified? These questions were evaded at the end of the Second World War and they remain unresolved today. In western Europe reconstruction was deeply shaped by the legacy of the interwar years, and in some countries it was accompanied by a highly selective memory of the recent past. The peaceful, affluent, Europe that emerged in the second half of the last century seemed to show that the lessons of history had been learnt. As Tony Judt shows in Postwar, this sense of self-satisfaction was at least partly based on false consciousness The Second World War left Europe divided. The half of it that ended up under Soviet control suffered over 40 years of totalitarian repression and had to wait until the last decade of the 20th century before it could enjoy anything like normal life. After the Second World War, Europeans were determined that in future they would seek progress through gradual, consensual change, and the European project reflected this belief.
Cruickshank boasts breadth and depth, bubbling with as much glee over the VW Beetle as the Taj Mahal.. During the first half of the 20th century, Europe was the world's leading practitioner of state terror. In their different ways Nazism and Stalinism showed the horrendous dangers inherent in using state power to conduct vast political experiments. Did the Panama-topped scholar deserve that licence-payers' money? Absolutely, not just for the series, but for a book both solid and lively enough to transcend tie-in status.
Cartledge shows that the myth-making began with Alexander himself, who moulded his public image and hired a historian, Callisthenes, as a sort of official spin-doctor. Students of politics won't be too surprised to learn that this hapless propagandist ended up tortured and hanged by his own boss.The Play Ethic, by Pat Kane PAN £8.99 (448pp) Pat Kane is that extremely rare beast: a pop star turned management consultant. He is also, in his words, a "freelance intellectual", employed by businesses to teach them how to play. The Play Ethic is a testament to the range of his ideas, teeming with wry insights and an impressive range of allusions, from Kierkegaard to karaoke.