Small Wars, Far Away Places
The collapse of Western colonial empires in the twenty years after the Second World War led to a series of vicious struggles for power - in Africa, Asia and the Middle East - whose bloody consequences haunt us still.
Acclaimed historian Michael Burleigh's brilliant analytic skills and clear eye for common themes underpins this powerful account of those conflicts. He takes us on a historical journey from Algeria to Cuba, from Malaysia to Palestine, and from Kenya to Vietnam and, in so doing, he reframes mid-twentieth-century history by forcing us to look away from the Cold War to the hot wars that continue to afflict us.
The result is a dazzling work of history, which examines the death of colonialism with passion, insight and genuine understanding of what it feels like to be caught in the middle of realpolitik.
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.