Alistair Horne – författare

The life of Henry Kissinger seen through one seminal year - 1973.''In his masterly new book, distinguished historian Sir Alistair Horne spotlights the man at the epicentre of the events that shook the decade'' Andrew Roberts''Compelling ... brilliantly analysed ... the fascinating story is retold with vigour and shrewdness'' DAILY TELEGRAPH''A fun and lively book: at its best, it casts new light on the peculiar relationship between Nixon and Kissinger, the ultimate "odd couple" '' SUNDAY TIMES1973 was a seminal year in world history. The outbreak of the ''Yom Kippur War'' took both Israel and the US by surprise, the Vietnam War finally ended, it was the year of détente with the Soviet Union, but the US executive was in a state of collapse following Watergate, and the year ended with the Muslim-initiated energy crisis, which brought the Western world to the brink of economic disaster - a story of deepest relevance today.This book is the biography of Kissinger - the first he has authorised - viewed through the events of this crucial year. A story of his extraordinarily imaginative aims, his near successes, and, as he admits, his ultimate failures.

This wonderfully entertaining journey takes us from Alistair Horne''s childhood as a wartime evacuee in America to his career as a highly successful historian and biographer, via a stint as a foreign correspondent for the Daily Telegraph. We travel with him from Germany to America, from Canada to France, from Latin America to the Middle East. A consummate biographer, the pages of Horne''s ''Literary Vagabondage'' abound with vivid character sketches of the friends and foes that have shaped his life.

Alistair Horne has been a close observer of war and history for more than fifty years. In this wise and masterly work, he revisits six battles that changed the course of the twentieth century and reveals the one trait that links them all: hubris. From the Battle of Tsushima in the Russo-Japanese War of 1905 to Hitler''s 1941 bid to capture Moscow, and from the disastrous American advance in Korea to the French surrender at Dien Bien Phu, Horne shows how each of these battles was won or lost due to excessive hubris on one side or the other.A dramatic, colourful and stylishly written history, HUBRIS is an essential reflection on war from a master of his field.

"A useful and charming introduction to a nation that has oh-so-definitely helped make the modern world what it is... Horne does a service in helping the reading navigate the complexities of French history." —Los Angeles TimesFrom the aclaimed British historian and author of Seven Ages of Paris comes a sweeping, grand narrative written with all the verve, erudition, and vividness that are his hallmarks. It recounts the hugely absorbing story of the country that has contributed to the world so much talent, style, and political innovation.

Beginning with Julius Caesar’s division of Gaul into three parts, Horne leads us through the ages from Charlemagne to Chirac, touring battlefields from the Hundred Years’ War to Indochina and Algeria, and giving us luminous portraits of the nation’s leaders, philosophers, writers, artists, and composers. This is a captivating, beautifully illustrated, and comprehensive yet concise history of France.