Told as a series of stories occurring in each month, 1922 covers a wide range of subjects, from the political and aeronautical to sport and entertainment, along with the discovery of a certain tomb in Egypt. It was all going on a century ago – the list of notable events is astonishing perhaps even rivalling 1492. It’s filled with household names from all over the world but with a US and UK bent.
Nick Rennison has achieved a good mixture of the serious and salacious. Many of the stories hold enough interest to warrant a book to themselves. Here, though, they tantalise briefly before we’re on to the next. But that does make it a perfect book to dip in and out of (or perhaps to read a month at a time then follow up with a trip down an internet rabbit hole to find out more).

I really enjoyed how this covered the year 1922. It was both informative and entertaining and I finished it feeling like I have learned something new on topics I had heard of before. The writing was easily accessible and I liked that it provided information in such an entertaining way. This is definitely a must-read for any history fans.

There are obvious parallels to be drawn between today and 1922, a year in which ‘the lost generation’ were emerging from the horrors of WWI and the Spanish flu pandemic. After such loss and death, the young were desperate to enjoy themselves and throw themselves wholeheartedly into life. It was the Jazz Age, when flappers eagerly embraced every new dance craze, and also a time when change was apparent in this turbulent year.

Author Nick Rennison gives every month a short chapter and includes worldwide events – whether political, social, scientific or disasters. These range from the rise of Benito Mussolini, through famous crimes, such as Edith Thompson and Freddy Bywater, the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, the death of Marcel Proust, the formation of the USSR and the BBC (John Reith set the tone for ‘auntie,’ with the proposal that the BBC should, ‘educate, entertain and inform…’).

Alongside the monumental are smaller events, no less important to me. For example, it was the year in which Enid Blyton published her first book and Richman Crompton’s, “Just William,” appeared in print. Meanwhile, Walt Disney took fledgling steps, T.S. Eliot’s, “The Waste Land,” appeared and “Ulysses,” was published. There are sure to be many facts that will interest the reader – some more familiar than others and the author cleverly includes some of those lesser-known stories. I suspect this will be in a lot of Christmas stockings this year and will be a good start to the new New Year. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

This is such a fascinating book. I didn’t think it would be my kind of thing at all really, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I didn’t realise 1922 was such a busy year, which so much being repeated nearly 100 years later (global pandemic anyone?)

It grabbed me straight from the beginning, opening with the trials of Fatty Arbuckle and going on to book publications and controversies, the fall of Empires, prohibition, war, movies, and historical discoveries. It covers nearly every basis and it’s got a bit of something for everyone.

There’s not too much information to be overwhelming, but it gives you enough to interest you and entertain you, and then you could go and look it up if you want to learn more.

1922: Scenes from a Turbulent Year is quick-fire history, the past related in bite-size chunks, month by month through one year. In many ways, it's a great format for a popular history book: Rennison covers a lot of ground and packs in some really interesting facts. I enjoyed the contrast of headline stories - be they from sport or science, art or politics - and I got swept up in the zeitgeist of the 1920s.

On the other hand, a lot of context has been sacrificed to keep this book light and concise, and certain themes and countries (US, UK and Ireland in particular) are explored more than others. I think it definitely helps if you have a reasonable general knowledge of twentieth century Western history before you pick up this book, and there were quite a few names and events I wanted to dig deeper into after I'd put it down.

A welcome addition to popular history, and a fitting way to reflect on 100 years of history as we approach 2022.

This short book filled with “factoid” anecdotal events from 1922 with a culture heavy Western (UK, Ireland and the USA) bias might be dismissed as trivial, if it were not so educational and fun. This is not at all the type of detail heavy history book that I usually read, but it is wonderfully informative and interesting.
Despite its brevity, there are a few entries that appear to add nothing to our understanding of living in 1922, such as the death of a pope and election of his successor, which is completely unremarkable, and the accidental killing of Vladmir Nabokov’s father in a failed assassination attempt. The article that takes the prize here though is the entry that starts “May. The cricket season begins in England.”
The historical stories are enlivened by humour where appropriate, such as the following about radio and the formation of the BBC: “When (a famous opera singer) arrived at the Marconi works, it soon became clear that Dame Nellie (Melba) had little notion of how radio worked. She was taken on a tour by a proud employee who pointed out the 140-foot tall transmitters, from the top of which her voice would be broadcast to listeners around the world. ‘Young man,’ she boomed in reply, ‘if you think I’m going to climb up there, you are very much mistaken.’”
A useful short bibliography is provided,with an acknowledgment to Robert Grave’s social history of Britain in the inter-war years, The Long Weekend, which perhaps provided an inspiration for the style of this book.
Overall, being easy, fun and informative, this book gives an entertainingly kaleidoscopic impression of 1922, providing the reader with contemporary tabloid sensations and sporting highlights, but also detailing the truly historic political and cultural events of the time, whose importance might only be recognised with hindsight.

I received a Netgalley copy of this book, but this review is my honest opinion.

This was a fascinating – and very readable – book. You would think that a book restricting itself to only one year of history would either be very short – or be so padded out with trivia – that you would soon lose interest. But 1922 was a quite remarkable year in which so, so very much happened throughout the world: politically, culturally, sociologically and in science. It was a year that saw civil wars in Ireland and China. The Otterman empire ceased to exist, Egypt gained its independence, and the USSR was formed. There were numerous political assassinations, a new Pope, Mussolini came to power and Hitler was briefly jailed. USA had its first female senator, arguably its most corrupt president (Harding), frequent lynching of black men, racial tension and a resurgence of the Klu Klux Klan.
In literature 1922 saw the publication of Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’, TS Elliot’s ‘The Wasteland’ and Enid Blyton’s first book. Earnest Hemmingway and F Scott Fitzgerald were coming into prominence, as Marcel Proust died. In the theatre, Bertolt Brecht had the staging of his first play, and Jean Cocteau produced ‘Antigone’ with set designs by Picasso and costumes by Coco Channel. It was the Jazz age, with Flappers, and Louis Armstrong moving to New York and fame. A great year for film in Germany (‘Nosferatu’ et al), Scandinavia and France – not to mention USA and Britain, with Walt Disney’s first animations and Hitchcock’s first film released. The BBC was established and the Lincoln memorial dedicated.
There were great leaps forward in aviation – as well as disasters. In physics, both Einstein and Niels Bohr received Nobel prizes. There were scandals, superb sporting achievements, major discoveries such as Tutankhamun’s tomb – and so much more.
Each month of the year 1922 has its own chapter – and its own significant happenings – many of which still resonate today. It was a year of great change, and new beginnings.
While the book does mainly focus on USA and Europe, there are occurrences further afield of note that receive attention (China, Japan, Turkey).
I found the book extremely interesting. While many of the incidents were known to me (at least in outline), not all were – and I had not known that all happened in such a short time of one calendar year.
I highly recommend this book to anyone with even the slightest interest in history.

A slight piece I read it in two days.
I like the cover design.
I would catagerise this book as a Christmas book, a stocking filler.

I love facts and information and this book provides plenty of both. Set out in almanac style with each month getting its own chapter it is packed with fascinating information about the people and the times. And also some pretty horrifying Ku Klux Klan behaviour. We haven't come far in the last 100 hundred years when you realise what was going on back then. Global in focus and broad in depth but a reader's book rather than a historian's, it is a quick and easy read and would make a great Christmas present although I see that the planned publication date has been delayed to March 2022. With thanks to NetGalley, the publishers and the author for an e-ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

I should first admit that I think I may have clicked on this book by mistake. However, it was a serendipitous mistake as I found it enjoyable and fascinating.

The year 1922 packed a lot into itself. From Hollywood scandals, to the urge to break speed records; from scientific advances to the publication of major works; from political ineptness to violent racism; 1922 had it all. Some of the topics I knew about already, others I had an inkling of, but many I had not ever heard of. An education in brief.

It's a book to dip in and out of really - and for that a paperback copy would be necessary. An ideal stocking filler for fact magpies perhaps.

An enjoyable ‘loo-side’ book. Dip in and out at random into this very broad and idiosyncratic look at an interesting year in history. At the end though, not sure what I learned about history- there was little overview or insight.
Thank you Hannah

I am not normally a fan of historical literature but the 1920s was an era that fascinates me, so i gave this a try! Wow, I loved it! It was a great read, and I am so glad i gave into that beautiful cover!

With this kaleidoscopic review of 1922, the main entrance to the Roaring Twenties, the author offers ​us an engrossing and very multifaceted approach to a pivotal year situated four long years after the end of one of the bloodiest and destructive conflicts the World has ever known in contemporary history.
Compelling & entertaining, this rollicking journey will take you through twelve eventful months in history, politics and culture with lots of fascinating details & engaging protagonists as a very bruised and shattered World starts to slowly but surely recover from its wounds and steadfastly tries to get back on tracks after the long and rather tumultuous maelstrom of the postwar years.
A brilliant and unusual tapestry of a remarkable year to be enjoyed without any moderation.
Let's hope now that 2022 will turn out to be a little bit more sedate. One can only hope🤞

Many thanks to Netgalley and Oldcastle for this terrific ARC

This sprightly tour of the year 1922 touches on a range of events, themes and characters and includes passion, murder, comedy, public life, politics, art, science and adventure, subjects which are often in interplay in these short narratives. It moves smoothly between the deep South of America and the corridors of power in London, between those in high office and entertainers.
I thoroughly enjoyed the journey. There are some very odd people and some very strange events tucked away in the year 1922. Nick Rennison brings these people and events to life in a series of telling, often moving, vignettes.
Lynch mobs and crimes of passion sit alongside aviation feats, Shackleton,s last voyage and the arrival of Louis Armstrong into Chicago.
This is a cornucopia of riches which has left me ready to look more deeply into much of the material presented in summary form here.

Although not obviously especially resonant, 1922 was a reasonably eventful year in global history. In Italy, a rally organised by Benito Mussolini got out of hand, resulting in a 'March on Rome' and, almost accidentally, the establishment of the world's first fascist state. In Britain, the BBC began broadcasting for the first time. TS Eliot's The Wasteland was published. Music hall legend, Marie Lloyd died. Harold R. Harris became the first man ever to successfully bail himself out of a plane by using a parachute. An eventful year indeed: all of these events occurred just in the month of October..
On a month by month basis, Nick Rennison's readable popular history book explores a number of the year's events. We learn about feats of speed and aviation, early Hollywood scandals, sporting successes, notorious trials and about Howard Carter's discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb. We learn about the rise of the flapper (20s slang for any thoroughly modern fun-loving young woman) and the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Assassins strike,, American lynch mobs converge, in newly Soviet Russia, the ailing Lenin watches as Trotsky and Stalin battle to succeed him. The world recovers from a global pandemic.
A fascinating snapshot of the vanished world of a century ago.

The major, often world-changing events of the tumultuous year that is now nearly a century ago (of course, it will be a century when the book is published in 2022) are brought to life by Nick Rennison in this excellent book.
After the horrors of the First World War and the Spanish flu pandemic, people just wanted to have a good time, and 1922 was the year that kicked off the “Roaring Twenties”. Hollywood was starting to grow despite frequent salacious scandals which would make our modern starlets blush.
The momentous events of 1922 are listed month by month, beginning in January with the Fatty Arbuckle trials and ending in December with the creation of the USSR. In between are Hollywood murders, Walt Disney and Alfred Hitchcock cutting their teeth in films, assassinations, trials, wars, publication of classic works of literature (including James Joyce’s “Ulysses”) disasters, the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb, violent strikes and the first FA Cup final to be decided on a (dodgy) penalty. And that is merely scratching the surface.
1922 was also the year that racial tensions exploded violently in the USA; Rennison’s depiction of racially motivated lynchings and atrocities are very graphic so be warned.
Each event is vividly brought to life by the author in a series of distinct, unfussy snapshots, without artifice or unnecessary waffle. Let’s hope 2022 turns out to be much more boring.

Thanks to NetGalley and Oldcastle Books for allowing me to view an advanced reading copy of this title.