Review by Choice Review
Winter, known for his deeply researched examinations of WW I (e.g., Remembering War, CH, Apr'07, 44-4597; Sites of Memory, Sites of Mourning, CH, Jun'96, 33-5864), has written an engrossing retrospective of several protagonists' hopes for the future. For example, wealthy turn-of-the-century Parisian financier Albert Kahn lavishly subsidized an early version of Google Earth--a photo and cinematographic archive containing 75,000 still photos and 450 kilometers of film footage titled "Archives of the Planet." Kahn hoped that once the global community saw the world's natural and built environment in all its variety, it could be viewed as a place of potential peace, not conflict. In the wake of the Great War's bloodbath, other visions took shape, such as Woodrow Wilson's idealistic yet flawed concept of self-determination or the enlightenment project planners projected at the 1937 World's Fair. The aftermath of WW II led lawyer Rene Cassin to craft the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights--a vision of "transnational jurisdiction in cases of gross violations of human rights." Winter carries his thoughtful narrative of flawed but necessary utopias forward, examining liberation theology and student revolts of the late 1960s and recent notions of transnational citizenship in an era of globalization. His reflections will offer sober food for thought for a wide audience. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. M. Deshmukh George Mason University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
