Best of Times, Worst of Times: Memoirs of a Political Education

by Walter Laqueur

Overview

Walter Laqueur has been writing and teaching for over six decades, primarily in the fields of twentieth century history and politics, always as a shrewd and thoughtful generalist in an age of specialization. In this engaging memoir, Laqueur focuses on the political and historical events that shaped his thinking and that have inspired his intellectual work throughout his life. He discusses living and attending school under Nazism; Marxism, the Soviet Union, and the part he played in Cold War politics; and the image his generation had of Zionism, Israel, and the Middle East. Laqueur shares his views on beltway politics and think tanks, and concludes with a look at guerrilla warfare and terrorism, and the future of Europe.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781584658801
Publisher:	Brandeis University Press
Publication date:	07/03/2012
Series:	The Tauber Institute Series for the Study of European Jewry
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	252
File size:	663 KB

About the Author

WALTER LAQUEUR is a former director of the Institute of Contemporary History and the Wiener Library in London and founder and editor with George Mosse of the Journal of Contemporary History and of Survey. A professor of history of ideas at Brandeis University and Georgetown University, he has been visiting professor of history and government at Harvard, University of Chicago, Tel Aviv, and Johns Hopkins University. He has authored or co-authored dozens of books, including Generation Exodus: The Fate of Young Jewish Refugees from Nazi Germany and The Changing Face of Anti-Semitism: From Ancient Times to the Present Day.

Table of Contents

Preface • A Surfeit of Politics; or, Why I Would Have Preferred the Nineteenth Century • Growing Up under the Nazis; or, Why One Had to Be There to Understand It • Marxism, the Soviet Union, and the Cold War; or, The Dream That Failed • The Downfall and Partial Resurgence of the Soviet Empire; or, The Strange Fortunes of the Congress for Cultural Freedom, “Finlandization,” and Putinism • A Middle East Education; or, Reflections on Arabia, Israel, Zionism, and Antisemitism • Think Tanks and Political Intelligence; or, Why It Is So Difficult to Predict • Guerrilla Warfare and Terrorism; or, What Systematic Study and Theory Can Mean • Europe, 1945– 2008; or, A Short Study in Hope and Frustration • Postface • Works by Walter Laqueur • Index

Editorial Reviews

Walter Laqueur has resolved the tension between being a highly respected historian, normally arms length from events themselves, and having been an active observer and player during ‘his’ twentieth century. With the knowledge and experience of his long life, he deserves the title of an ‘old wise man.’”—World Security Network

“Walter Laqueur’s calm and candid reflections deserve a wide readership among scholars, journalists, politicians, and anyone willing to cast an unflinching gaze at the past and present.”—The New Republic

From the Publisher