The Dark Valley

I came across this book based on a review in I found on a blog I follow:

https://aquestionofscale.blogspot.com/2018/10/book-review-dark-valley-piers-brendon.html

Not really a military history book, but certainly critical background to the major military event in history (our history at any rate).

While European focussed in the main, I found the chapters on Japan ...

Hmm?  I wonder what happened?  I thought I had finished this post and only revisited it to share with a friend and find I am sorely mistaken.

The Goodreads summary certainly does it justice:

"The 1930s were perhaps the seminal decade in twentieth-century history, a dark time of global depression that displaced millions, paralyzed the liberal democracies, gave rise to totalitarian regimes, and, ultimately, led to the Second World War. In this sweeping history, Piers Brendon brings the tragic, dismal days of the 1930s to life.

From Stalinist pogroms to New Deal programs, Brendon re-creates the full scope of a slow international descent towards war. Offering perfect sketches of the players, riveting descriptions of major events and crises, and telling details from everyday life, he offers both a grand, rousing narrative and an intimate portrait of an era that make sense out of the fascinating, complicated, and profoundly influential years of the 1930s."

It's a big book and not for the casual reader.  I was glad I got my copy on Kindle as it made looking up some of the big (and occasionally unnecessary) words really easy, along with checking up on people, places and events.

Of course the terrifying thing about the 1930s are some of the parallels with today.  In reading this book you can see how people like Hitler and Mussolini came to power, however I am at a loss to understand how the world has ended up with its current and recent crop of leaders.