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Prisoners of History

What Monuments to the Second World War Tell Us About Our History and Ourselves

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Prisoners of History

By: Keith Lowe
Narrated by: Keith Lowe
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A Spectator Book of the Year 2020

A Times and Sunday Times Best Book of 2020
A Mail on Sunday Book of the Year 2020

‘Inspired … Lowe’s sensitive, disturbing book should be compulsory reading for both statue builders and statue topplers’ MAX HASTINGS, SUNDAY TIMES What happens when our values change, but what we have set in stone does not?

Humankind has always had the urge to memorialise, to make physical testaments to the past. There’s just one problem: when we carve a statue or put up a monument, it can wind up holding us hostage to bad history.

In this extraordinary history book, Keith Lowe uses monuments from around the world to show how different countries have attempted to sculpt their history in the wake of the Second World War, and what these memorials reveal about their politics and national identity today.

Amongst many questions, the book asks: What does Germany signal to today’s far right by choosing not to disclose the exact resting place of Hitler? How can a bronze statue of a young girl in Seoul cause mass controversy? What is Russia trying to prove and hide, still building victory monuments at a prolific rate for a war now seventy years over?

As many around the world are questioning who and what we memorialise, Prisoners of History challenges our idea of national memory, history, and the enormous power of symbols in society today.

 20th Century Military Modern World War Russia Imperialism Imperial Japan
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Critic reviews

‘[An] inspired idea … Always thoughtful and evocative, sometimes controversial … Lowe’s sensitive, disturbing book should be compulsory reading for both statue builders and statue topplers. Too many memorials of all kinds seek to promote deceits or half-truths.’
MAX HASTINGS, THE SUNDAY TIMES
‘[A] brilliantly researched and timely book … Lowe is not afraid to tread on sensitive ground, but he does so with the integrity that comes from really knowing his material’
THE DAILY MAIL, FIVE STARS
‘Such a provocative perspective makes Lowe’s choice of monuments important. The well-balanced range here enables the retelling of some remarkable war stories, while also providing fascinating insights into the ways different nations have remembered or denied issues around national identity and the glory and horrors of war … this is some of the most thought-provoking writing about the Second World War that I have read for a long while’
SPECTATOR
‘In this timely book, which neatly combines history, art criticism and travelogue, Lowe examines 25 monuments to the Second World War spread across three continents … Lowe is a fine guide to these monuments because he feels the moral force — for good or bad — of each site he visits’
THE TIMES, BOOK OF THE WEEK
‘Time after time throughout Prisoners of History, Keith Lowe’s commentaries are more articulate and supple than the monuments they describe, interpret and criticise’
THE LITERARY REVIEW
‘Keith Lowe’s book could not be more timely … his observations seem uncannily prescient … he is sharp on cultural and national differences in perceptions of the war’
STANDPOINT MAGAZINE
All stars
Most relevant
So thought provoking, wise, wide ranging. Learnt a lot and made me reflect on how countries shape their histories

Fascinating

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The narrator (the author) was fantastic. Really personable. Did his book justice with his very skilful reading style. It was a joy to listen to him speak his written words, and full of interesting and new facts ranging from the history of the war, of architecture and of the post war world.

Thought provoking, full of research, 5 star

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I really enjoyed this which has added several places I wish to visit, Grūtas Park in Lithuania is first on my list. A super book to dip into and out of. Usually, authors are not really up to narrating their own books but this narration was superb.

If only we could get Lowe's 'Savage Continent' on Audiobooks.

Fascinating interpretation

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