Search
Log in
  • Home

  • Categories

  • Audiobooks

  • E-books

  • For kids

  • Top lists

  • Help

  • Download app

  • Use campaign code

  • Redeem gift card

  • Try free now
  • Log in
  • Language

    🇳🇴 Norge

    • NO
    • EN

    🇧🇪 Belgique

    • FR
    • EN

    🇩🇰 Danmark

    • DK
    • EN

    🇩🇪 Deutschland

    • DE
    • EN

    🇪🇸 España

    • ES
    • EN

    🇫🇷 France

    • FR
    • EN

    🇳🇱 Nederland

    • NL
    • EN

    🇦🇹 Österreich

    • AT
    • EN

    🇨🇭 Schweiz

    • DE
    • EN

    🇫🇮 Suomi

    • FI
    • EN

    🇸🇪 Sverige

    • SE
    • EN
  1. Books
  2. Nonfiction
  3. History

Read and listen for free for 14 days!

Cancel anytime

Try free now
0.0(0)

Human Smoke : The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization

At a time when the West seems ever more eager to call on military aggression as a means of securing international peace, Nicholson Baker's provocative narrative exploring the political misjudgements and personal biases that gave birth to the terrifying consequences of the Second World War could not be more pertinent.

With original and controversial insights brought about by meticulous research, Human Smokere-evaluates the political turning points that led up to war and in so doing challenges some of the treasured myths we hold about how war came about and how atrocities like the Holocaust were able to happen. Baker reminds us, for instance, not to forget that it was thanks in great part to Churchill and England that Mussolini ascended to power so quickly, and that, before leading the United States against Nazi Germany, a young FDR spent much of his time lobbying for a restriction in the number of Jews admitted to Harvard. Conversely, Human Smokealsoreminds us of those who had the foresight to anticipate the coming bloodshed and the courage to oppose the tide of history, as Gandhi demonstrated when he made his symbolic walk to the ocean -- for which he was immediately imprisoned by the British.

Praised by critics and readers alike for his gifted writing and exquisitely observant eye, Baker offers a combination of sweeping narrative history and a series of finely delineated vignettes of the individuals and moments that shaped history that is guaranteed to spark new dialogue on the subject.


Author:

  • Nicholson Baker

Format:

  • E-book

Duration:

  • 460 pages

Language:

English

Categories:

  • Nonfiction
  • History

More by Nicholson Baker

Skip the list
  1. Traveling Sprinkler

    Nicholson Baker

    audiobook
  2. La entreplanta

    Nicholson Baker

    book
  3. House of Holes

    Nicholson Baker

    book
  4. Substitute

    Nicholson Baker

    audiobook
  5. The Way the World Works : Essays

    Nicholson Baker

    book
  6. Human Smoke

    Nicholson Baker

    audiobook

Others have also read

Skip the list
  1. Walk Out of Your Mess : 40 Days to Seeing God's Miracles at Work in Your Life

    Samuel Rodriguez

    audiobook
  2. Räkna med Simpsons!

    Simon Singh

    book
  3. Hvad hjertet begærer : Kvinders kærlighed til kvinder i 200 år

    Karin Cohr Lützen

    audiobookbook
  4. Oblomov

    Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov

    book
  5. Find Your Red Thread

    Tamsen Webster

    audiobook
  6. Rules

    Lorraine Daston

    audiobook
  7. Megafauna : Giant Beasts of Pleistocene South America

    Richard A. Fariña, Sergio F. Vizcaíno, Gerry De Iuliis

    audiobook
  8. On Animals

    Susan Orlean

    audiobookbook
  9. Raw Deal : Hidden Corruption, Corporate Greed, and the Fight for the Future of Meat

    Chloe Sorvino

    audiobookbook
  10. Generation of Electrical Power

    Dr. Hidaia Mahmood Alassouli

    book
  11. Walking in Mud : A Navy SEAL's 10 Rules for Surviving the New Normal

    Steve Giblin

    audiobook
  12. The Valley of the Gods: A Silicon Valley Story

    Alexandra Wolfe

    audiobook

  • 8 books

    Nicholson Baker

    Nicholson Baker is the author of nine novels and four works of nonfiction, including Double Fold, which won a National Book Critics Circle Award, and House of Holes, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s, and The New York Review of Books. He lives in Maine with his family.

    Read more

Help and contact


About us

  • Our story
  • Career
  • Press
  • Accessibility
  • Partner with us
  • Investor relations
  • Instagram
  • Facebook

Explore

  • Categories
  • Audiobooks
  • E-books
  • Magazines
  • For kids
  • Top lists

Popular categories

  • Crime
  • Biographies and reportage
  • Fiction
  • Feel-good and romance
  • Personal development
  • Children's books
  • True stories
  • Sleep and relaxation

Nextory

Copyright © 2025 Nextory AB

Privacy Policy · Terms ·
Excellent4.3 out of 5