Human Smoke - Nicholson Baker

Stefan Zweig, a young writer from Vienna, sat in an audience at a movie theater in Tours, France, watching a newsreel. It was spring 1914.

An image of Wilhelm II, the Emperor of Germany, came on screen for a moment. At once the theater was in an uproar. "Everybody yelled and whistled, men, women, and children, as if they had been personally insulted," Zweig wrote. "The good-natured people of Tours, who knew no more about the world and politics than what they had read in their newspapers, had gone mad for an instant."

Zweig was frightened. "It had only been a second, but one that showed me how easily people anywhere could be aroused in a time of a crisis, despite all attempts at understanding."

This is one of the most moving books I have ever read. Subtitled, "The beginnings of World War, the End of Civilization", reading this will change how you feel about war and your fellow humans. Nicolson gathered small excerpts from news stories and public documents and piece them togther is a most compelling arrangement. The short exerpts tell a history of the build-up to WW II in a most fascinating way. The book reads like a novel even though it is entirely composed from other documents.

I don't have a strong interest in the history of wars, but this book shows the human story that took civilization from WW I to a more devastating war. Interspersed in the news excerpts are pacifists who tried to stop the massive annihilation. I cannot stop thinking about this book that has caused me to deeply examine the attitudes in myself and others that lead to wars. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.