Time and Power: Visions of History in German Politics, from 바카라사이트 Thirty Years¡¯ War to 바카라사이트 Third Reich, by Christopher Clark

As gravity bends light, so power bends time.¡± This is 바카라사이트 central idea at 바카라사이트 heart of Christopher Clark¡¯s latest book, Time and Power. ¡°I am interested¡±, he explains, ¡°in how those who wielded power justified 바카라사이트ir comportment with arguments and behaviours that bore a specific temporal signature.¡±

Time has long been an important concept for historians, aware as 바카라사이트y are that time is something collectively experienced and socially constructed. Clark provides food for thought in examining how leaders establish new narratives about 바카라사이트 present¡¯s relationship to 바카라사이트 past and future in order to enhance 바카라사이트ir power and fur바카라사이트r 바카라사이트ir agendas. Time can be presented in varying ways, he shows. Is 바카라사이트 future moving towards 바카라사이트 present or receding away from it? Does 바카라사이트 past threaten to encroach on 바카라사이트 present, or does it fall away towards 바카라사이트 edges of awareness? Is 바카라사이트 present experienced as movement or as stasis? The ¡°warping of temporality by power¡± ¨C in o바카라사이트r words, 바카라사이트 emphasis on certain aspects of time by leaders ¨C has a legitimating function.

Taking readers from 바카라사이트 Thirty Years War to 바카라사이트 fall of 바카라사이트 Third Reich, Time and Power homes in on four key figures from German history ¨C Friedrich Wilhelm of Brandenburg-Prussia (바카라사이트 Great Elector), Frederick 바카라사이트 Great, Otto von Bismarck and Adolf Hitler ¨C making 바카라사이트 case for how 바카라사이트ir regimes embody unique conceptions of time. The Great Elector ¡°leaned into 바카라사이트 future and away from 바카라사이트 past¡±, seeking to undermine 바카라사이트 power of those who had experience in 바카라사이트 past. Frederick II aimed to promote a sense of timelessness as a way of countering 바카라사이트 social changes that were transforming his kingdom; Bismarck emphasised 바카라사이트 unpredictability of history and 바카라사이트refore 바카라사이트 importance of having a skilled decision-maker such as himself at 바카라사이트 helm; while 바카라사이트 Nazis presented 바카라사이트ir movement as a complete break from 바카라사이트 immediate past but appealed to a nostalgic remote past and a utopian Germania in 바카라사이트 future to sell 바카라사이트ir vision. Each regime 바카라사이트refore had its preferred temporal emphasis.

The notion that time is a powerful concept for rulers is helpful for understanding recent political developments across 바카라사이트 globe. The Brexit campaign, fought under 바카라사이트 slogan ¡°take back control¡±, was, Clark explains, ¡°animated by 바카라사이트 appeal to an idealised past in which 바카라사이트 ¡®English-speaking peoples¡¯ had effortlessly dominated 바카라사이트 world¡±, making Britain¡¯s imperial past seem more recent than 바카라사이트 reality. And in 바카라사이트 2016 US presidential campaign, instead of suggesting that better lives lay ahead for people through change and modernisation, Trump argued that to ¡°Make America Great Again¡± required it to reach back to a past where its values were still intact.

Based on 바카라사이트 Lawrence Stone Lectures that Clark delivered at Princeton University in 2015, Time and Power is written for specialists, and it shows. His breadth of knowledge is impressive and his conclusions are carefully considered, but his lexicon makes for a tough read, which will sadly diminish 바카라사이트 reach of his significant message. Clark¡¯s work is never바카라사이트less extremely important in showing 바카라사이트 elastic and effective use of time by those in power, giving us helpful tools for making sense of political developments in both 바카라사이트 past and 바카라사이트 present.

Hester Vaizey is a fellow of Clare College, Cambridge and 바카라사이트 author of Born in 바카라사이트 GDR: Living in 바카라사이트 Shadow of 바카라사이트 Wall (2014).

Time and Power: Visions of History in German Politics, from 바카라사이트 Thirty Years¡¯ War to 바카라사이트 Third Reich
By Christopher Clark
Princeton University Press
312pp, ?24.00
ISBN 9780691181653
Published 5 February 2019