Niall Ferguson Libri

Porta d'accesso al «secolo breve», guerra che avrebbe dovuto porre fine a tutte le guerre, «inutile strage»: il primo conflitto mondiale fu una tragedia che costò la vita a oltre nove milioni di persone e inferse all'Europa della Belle Époque una ferita profonda che ne trasfigurò per sempre il ruolo sul palcoscenico della storia mondiale. La Grande guerra fu lo sbocco finale della corsa agli armamenti perseguita dalle principali potenze europee (in particolare dalla Germania), il frutto avvelenato dell'imperialismo, l'esito dell'azione di forze storiche talmente potenti e vaste che nessun politico, diplomatico o militare fu in grado di contrastarla. In breve, una sorta di fatale e ineluttabile Armageddon. Sono queste le interpretazioni che gli storici hanno dato delle origini e delle cause della prima guerra mondiale. Ma davvero il Reich tedesco rappresentava una minaccia per l'ordine e la stabilità dell'Europa? Davvero si trattò di un conflitto inevitabile? A queste e altre domande risponde lo storico Niall Ferguson. Muovendosi in una interdisciplinare «terra di nessuno», confrontando dati economici e finanziari, rileggendo i testi dei «poeti di guerra», gli articoli dei principali quotidiani dell'epoca, come pure i libri di memorie o i documenti diplomatici, Ferguson fa piazza pulita di tanti miti e luoghi comuni e solleva questioni cruciali che intaccano alla radice la nostra percezione e conoscenza della prima guerra mondiale: è vero che l'opinione pubblica accolse la guerra con entusiasmo, come spesso è stato scritto? E quale peso ebbe la propaganda nei paesi belligeranti? Se le condizioni di vita nelle trincee erano così spaventose, se le armi impiegate erano così micidiali, perché gli uomini continuarono a combattere e non disertarono o non si ammutinarono? Chi vinse la pace, o meglio, a chi toccò di pagare il prezzo della guerra? E soprattutto: ne valse la pena? Alla fine Il grido dei morti, nelle sue conclusioni provocatorie e sconcertanti, originali e controcorrente, ci consegna un'unica, terribile verità: la prima guerra mondiale non fu soltanto una tragedia. Fu il più grave errore della storia moderna.

High Financier In this pathbreaking new biography, based on more than 10,000 hitherto unavailable letters and diary entries, bestselling author Ferguson returns to his roots as a financial historian to tell the story of legendary financier Siegmund Warburg. Full description

No American statesman has been as revered and as reviled as Henry Kissinger. Hailed by some as the 'indispensable man', whose advice has been sought by every president from Kennedy to Obama, Kissinger has also attracted immense hostility from critics who have cast him as an amoral Machiavellian - the ultimate cold-blooded 'realist'. Niall Ferguson has created an extraordinary panorama of Kissinger's world, and a paradigm-shifting reappraisal of the man. Only through knowledge of Kissinger's early life can we understand his debt to the philosophy of idealism. And only by tracing his rise, fall and revival as an adviser to John F. Kennedy, Nelson Rockefeller and, finally, Richard Nixon can we appreciate the magnitude of his contribution to the theory of diplomacy, grand strategy and nuclear deterrence

The definitive biography of Henry Kissinger, based on unprecedented access to his private papers. No American statesman has been as revered or as reviled as Henry Kissinger

Ferguson reexamines the war, especially Britain's role, and takes issue with some long held beliefs

The world at the beginning of the 20th century seemed for most of its inhabitants stable and relatively benign. Globalizing, booming economies married to technological breakthroughs seemed to promise a better world for most people. Instead, the 20th century proved to be overwhelmingly the most violent, frightening and brutalized in history with fanatical, often genocidal warfare engulfing most societies between the outbreak of the First World War and the end of the Cold War. What went wrong? How did we do this to ourselves? The War of the World comes up with compelling, fascinating answers. It is Niall Ferguson's masterpiece.

Niall Ferguson recreates the excitement, brutality and adventure of the British Empire, showing on a vast canvas how the British Empire in the 19th century spearheaded real globalization with steampower, telegraphs, guns, engineers, missionaries and millions of settlers.

Chronicles the evolution of finance from its origins in Mesopotamia to the modern world's most recent upheavals, covering such topics as the stock market bubble that prompted the French Revolution and the theories behind common investment vehicles.

In the sweep of human history, the European Union stands out as one of humankind's most ambitious endeavors. It encompasses half a billion people, twenty-seven member states, twenty-three languages, and an economy valued at over $15 trillion. Modern Europe's stunning achievements aside, its sovereign debt crisis has shaken the world's largest political and economic union to its core. Can the federal institutions and shared values of Europeans meet the challenges of debt crisis that are as much political as economic? Or, are Europe's current woes indicative of a series of deep structural faults that will doom the European Union to breakup and failure? In this edition of the Munk Debates — Canada's premier international debate series — former EU commissioner Lord Peter Mandelson, French-German EU parliament leader of the Greens, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, German Euro skeptic and bestselling author Josef Joffe, and Scottish historian, Niall Ferguson debate one of the most pressing issues of our day: has the great European experiment failed? This electrifying debate featuring some of Europe's most outspoken parliamentary figures and academics is guaranteed to be an unforgettable and riveting verbal sparring match on the question that will determine the future of world's economy.

The Mythology surrounding the Rothschilds' wealth and power is two centuries old. Now the historical reality, long buried in the bank's archives, is revealed for the first time by Oxford historian and bestselling author Niall Ferguson in this definitive account of a legendary banking dynasty's rise to power.