Lee P. Ruddin: Review of A Companion to International History: 1900-2001, ed. by Gordon Martel (Blackwell Publishing, 2007)
Was the twentieth century midwife to a war of the world? Is the story one of barbarism and civilization? What role did the English-speaking peoples play? Will English-speaking peoples play a corresponding role in World War IV? Unfortunately, albeit unsurprisingly, the dust-jacket of Gordon Martel’s (ed.) A Companion to International History: 1900-2001 does not envelope a grand thesis analogous to the tomes of Niall Ferguson, Bernard Wasserstein, Andrew Roberts and Norman Podhoretz.
Still, students of Ferguson will be pleased to read Robert D. Boyce’s “Why International Finance Mattered: 1919-1939” (pp.181-194). Readers of Wasserstein need not go without, for we have Alexander Hill’s “Stalin and the West” (pp.257-268). Those partial to a page or two of Roberts and Warren F. Kimball’s “The Grand Alliance, 1941-1945” (pp.285-298) will have their desires met, too. The final chapter, penned by Michael Bauer, entitled “Terrorism: September 11, 2001 and its Consequences” (pp.422-436), supplies a shot (though a weak one) in the arm for the Podhoretz-addict.
All this makes for an encyclopaedic-like treasure trove of history that can be enjoyed as a collection of essays (32 in all) or one continuous read (for the essays compliment one another) on the key themes spanning the twentieth century (sandwiched between nineteenth- and twenty-first century events). That chapters are crisp, concise (c.13 pages a piece) and authoritative—yet wearing their learning lightly—only adds to the positive end-user experience. Each individual contribution reflects the latest scholarship today. Indeed a cursory inspection of the reading list(s) validates this claim. That said, the companion is not as user-friendly as, for example, Paul R. Viotti and Mark V. Kauppi's International Relations and World Politics, which apart from the dazzling layout—in deep contradistinction to Martel's featureless newspaper column-like structure—each segment attaches web links for further study, not to mention an exhaustive glossary ahead of the index.
The companion is built upon four foundation blocks: First World War; Second World War; Cold War; and New World Order. Admittedly, this is no innovative structural design—though what editor would possibly deviate here? Three “T” keywords cement each particular footing: starting with the First World War, we learn of tension, tragedy and the Treaty of Versailles; shortly thereafter, Second World War accounts tell of the turbulence engulfing the Twenties and Thirties, then of totalitarianism and The Tripartite Pact; out of the debris, thermonuclear technology, the Third World and tinpot dictators define the Cold War period; while triumphalism, trade liberalization and, of course, terrorism fashion our New World Order.
Ian D. Thatcher’s “Envisioning a New World Order” (pp.143-153) proves a fundamental contribution, since it examines the competing visions of Woodrow Wilson and Vladimir Lenin. Plaudits aside, the omission of Arthur S. Link and James Robert Carroll’s The Real Woodrow Wilson: An Interview with Arthur S. Link, Editor of the “Wilson Papers” from the reading list is perplexing. (Even so, this is not as bizarre as R. J. B. Bosworth’s “Nationalism”: pp.26-38, neglecting Anatol Lieven’s American Right or Wrong: An Anatomy of American Nationalism.) Nevertheless, Thatcher ought to be applauded for standing on the banks of the moral-relativist swamp.
It would be a great disservice to regard the latest addition from Blackwell Companions to History as Eurocentric, in any pejorative sense. Europe's role at the fin-de-siècle through the Belle Époque is a given; as is Europe’s participation in World War II; so too Europe's centrality vis-à-vis the bipolar structure of the Cold War. The fallout of which is a European straight-jacket of international history. Piers Ludlow, in “Making the New Europe: European Integration since 1950” (pp.327-339), frees any contributor from charges of hyper-European historicizing.
Europe aside, it would be unsound to reason that the textbook has little to offer the non-European specialist: for we have Norrie MacQueen’s “A Third World?” (pp.314-326); Kevin Ruane’s “The Making of Modern Southeast Asia in the Age of Decolonization and the Cold War” (pp.340-353); and Saul Kelly’s “The Middle East, 1945-1991: The Making of a Mare’s Nest” (pp.354-365)—each delivering a shot across the bows of Eurocentrism. Saying that, readers with a particular keen interest in Latin America and/or (sub-Sahara) Africa are to look elsewhere.
What is more, two historical issues are wholly underplayed. The first pertains to the Arab-Israeli conflict. This can only be described as scholarly-sloppiness, for is this not the defining question of our age? To add insult to injury, a page or two encompassing the history of Islamism does not serve the reader well. Both are crimes against the reader, whether professor or laymen. (As is Gordon Martel’s “Twentieth-Century International History: The Changing Face of Empire”: pp.3-10, coupled with John Mackenzie’s “Imperialism”: pp.13-25, offering deeply one-sided accounts.) The second relates to the omission of the Troubles in Northern Ireland and the remarkable efforts (of Tony Blair) at the close of the century to bring about an historic peace.
Notwithstanding Gavin D. Brockett's “The Challenge to Empire in the Middle East and Asia” (pp.207-219), the edited-hardback focuses, in the main, on the political and economic determinants of history—over and above the cultural dimensions—cutting short its shelf-life at a time when shelves increasingly sag from under the weight of “new” international history textbooks. One such example is The Oxford History of Twentieth Century, co-edited by Michael Howard and William Roger Louis.
Considering the title’s scope and pace it helps to have a little prior knowledge of some key events, but as an introduction to historical themes it is referenceable; referenceable only after A Dictionary of Twentieth-Century World History proves fruitless, that is.
When all is said and done though, A Companion to International History: 1900-2001 will undoubtedly feature prominently on the syllabus for MA’s in “Twentieth-Century History” (an ever-increasingly popular degree in the UK). The readership of the companion need not remain confined to academia mind you, thus underscoring its real worth.