The age of ideologies

Twentieth-century political thought represents both the peak and the turning point of many ideas which have been maturing since the eighteenth century. At the same time the'advance of economy and society under the banner of science and technology, as part of a worldwide expansion of modern civilization, has been increasingly called into question. Professor Bracher argues that these two tendencies are closely linked: that it is precisely those shattering disruptions of progress caused by wars and crises which have undermined many rational certainties and have left Europe vulnerable to irrational thought.The Age of Ideologies provides us with a lucid and penetrating insight into European political doctrines and how they relate to political movements in the twentieth century. In so doing he fills an important gap in the existing literature and applies four decades of historical scholarship and contemporary political experience to an examination of the continuing conflict between democracy and totalitarianism.'Bracher has written a history of ideas in the twentieth century which presents a lucid argument free from obscurantism and jargon— The experiences of the twentieth century have been so varied, its ideologies so shifting and contradictory, its prophets ... so often both right and wrong that it is hard to write a work of synthesis which really holds together. This Professor Bracher has undoubtedly done.'James Joll, The Times Literary SupplementKarl Dietrich Bracher is Professor of Political Science and Contemporary History at the University of Bonn.