Best of Times, The Worst of Times

In the decades since the end of the Second World War, it has been widely assumed that the western model of liberal democracy and free trade is the way the world should be governed. However, events in the early years of the twenty-first century – first, the 2003 war with Iraq and its chaotic aftermath and, second, the financial crash of 2008 – have threatened the general acceptance that continued progress under the benign (or sometimes not so benign) gaze of the western powers is the only way forwards. And as America turns inwards and Europe is beset by austerity politics and populist nationalism, the post-war consensus looks less and less secure. But is this really the worst of times? In a forensic examination of the world we now live in, acclaimed historian Michael Burleigh sets out to answer that question. Who could have imagined that China would champion globalization and lead the battle on climate change? Or that post-Soviet Russia might present a greater threat to the world’s stability than ISIS? And while we may be on the cusp of still more dramatic change, perhaps the risks will – in time – bring not only change but a wholly positive transformation.Incisive, robust and always insightful, The Best of Times, The Worst of Times is both a dazzling tour d’horizon of the world as it is today and a surprisingly optimistic vision of the world as it might become.

‘A robust and unsentimental guide to global power politics’, ‘Burleigh has always had an eye for compelling hard detail’ Sunday Times, ‘Bracing … refreshingly pessimistic’ Observer, ‘In this wide-ranging book Michael Burleigh demonstrates a mastery of global affairs that would put most experts in any one of his chosen chapter headings to shame … quite brilliant.’ Mail on Sunday, ‘Brilliant, fact-packed, judicious and above all debunking … The Best of Times, the Worst of Times will not leave its readers cheered, but they will at least be superbly informed about thedramas to come.’ Daily Telegraph

Michael Burleigh is a historian and commentator. His books include the best-selling The Third Reich: A New History, which won the 2001 Samuel Johnson Prize; Small Wars, Far Away Places, which was longlisted for the 2014 Samuel Johnson Prize and, most recently The Best of Times, The Worst of Times.He writes regularly for the The Times, Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday on international affairs and has also won a British Film Institute Award for Archival Achievement and a New York Film and Television Festival Award Bronze Medal. A Professor of Modern History, Michael was the first appointed Engelsberg Chair of History and International Relations at LSE IDEAS, which is an annual distinguished visiting professorship, delivering public lectures to LSE's foreign policy think tank. He held the post from 2019 to 2020. He lives in London.