As a WW2 afficionado, I found this work very interesting. It takes you through a journey of the monuments to the war - their historical provenances and significance. Fascinating read !

The author - Keith Lowe visited 25 monuments of the Second World War that he talks about in this book. He shares many historical tidbits not much talked about in popular histories and professes his interpretation of their meanings. This is the perfect book if you are interested in history and learning. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

A fascinating and timely analysis of memory and memorials, Prisoners of History takes us through the range of modern monuments. A worthwhile read for anyone interested in the history of the twentieth century.

Less a traditional book and more a series of connected articles exploring various WW2 related monuments around the world, Prisoners of History is a highly accessible and interesting exploration of the meaning of WW2 to various countries and communities in the 21stC. It is an easy read, with each chapter a bite-sized and standalone examination of a single monument ideal for reading on the bus or before bed, but it is not overly lightweight in its analysis and each chapter is eyeopening in a different way. Some explore war atrocities, while others assess modern day uses and appropriations of war-time events; As someone with little interest in war itself, but very interested in the cultural and political uses of historical events, I found the latter to be compelling and full of fascinating detail.

'History changes, and if monuments do not keep pace with that change they sometimes have to go.'

This seems to have been written to coincide with VE Day celebrations and other WW2 anniversaries - but for me writing in June 2020, this could hardly have been more topical in terms of public debates over #BLM and other protests over statues of slavers in our public spaces.

What is useful about Lowe's book is that he makes the obvious points which still deserve to be reiterated: that 'history' is always complex; that narratives that seek to delimit it to one story are always open to challenge; and that there is a long history of monuments and statues being contested, defaced, removed and destroyed. This book which focuses only on WW2 offers examples of Communist monuments being taken down across Eastern Europe after the break-up of the Soviet Union - another example of where there is a disjunction between historical and present values.

This is an immensely readable book but it tends to the anecdotal rather than the scholarly. Each mini-essay is journalistic in tone, which is fine as long as you know what you're getting. It's more descriptive than analytical but explores some interesting monuments from across the world that are all associated with WW2. This is the sort of book that I'd normally love to read on my commute (remember that?): each bite-size piece is thoughtful enough to engage but the book is also easy to pick up and put down. An interesting read for anyone who loves popular history.