The Fear and the Freedom: How the Second World War Changed Us by Keith Lowe

Viking, 576 pages, £14.99

In the wake of any disaster, it is human nature to ask, “How could this happen?” The Second World War directly affected more people than any other conflict in history. More than 100 million men and women were mobilised. And for every individual who went off to war, there was a family and a community that felt an absence. A lot of ink has been spilled on how we got into the war, but far less on what happened afterwards.

Keith Lowe’s The Fear and the Freedom is a global exploration of the consequences of the conflict. In each chapter, the author showcases a different individual’s experience of the war and its legacy. We hear from people all around the world – men and women, soldiers and civilians, scientists and artists – and in so doing gain valuable insights into the social, economic, philosophical and psychological impact of the war.

In some ways, peace represented a fresh start, an opportunity to get things right, to foster international cooperation, to prevent future wars and to reset the terms with colonial rulers. Yet it was also true in many cases that the memory of the Second World War cast a shadow that could not simply be erased – be it recollections of exposure to unimaginable violence, coming to terms with the loss of loved ones, or making sense of what one did or did not do under the veil of war. All of the 25 stories, which are so engagingly told by Lowe, shine light on the major changes, positive and negative, that took place because of the events of 1939– 45.