November General Meeting by Anita Davis
At last Tuesday’s general meeting (Nov 18th), our members were treated to a surprisingly delightful, upbeat and entertaining account of history in Europe which led to World War 11. I only wish my history teachers in high school had presented the topic using Ken’s entertaining approach. Through his book “Shadows of Tyranny”, acclaimed author Ken McGoogan shows how the current resurgence of authoritarianism in the United States recalls Europe in the 1930s.
Using black and white slogans, cartoons and photos, Ken described the rise of dictators in Europe, and their devastating impact on the lives of millions. He draws a parallel on how “the current resurgence of authoritarianism in the United States, recalls Europe in the 1930s,” and how Donald Trump gained yet another term of office, by applying strategies used by Hitler.
Shadows of Tyranny, is described as an audacious work of nonfiction. Acclaimed author Ken McGoogan melds conventional history, political analysis, and literary observation into a genre-busting work of “cautionary nonfiction.”
Shadows of Tyranny also celebrates those who fought the racist wildfire – soldiers, of course, but also novelists like Orwell and Sinclair Lewis, journalists like Matthew Halton, Dorothy Thompson, and Martha Gellhorn, and singular figures like Hannah Arendt, Norman Bethune, and Winston Churchill.
A thank you to Wordsworth Books for displaying other publications by Ken McGoogan. As a result, I purchased a second book: “Lady Franklin’s Revenge”. Only two chapters in, the book is shaping up to be thoroughly readable. The book describes how Lady Franklin, the well-educated and resourceful wife of Sir John Franklin, orchestrated a 12-year search of his lost expedition. To quote: “Ken McGoogan tells the riveting story of a complex ambitious Victorian woman, who battling a society that denied her an active role, transformed a failed expedition into a triumphant legend.
Well worth reading…
