Prisoners of History

We are all prisoners of history. This is more obvious at certain times - during the Great Depression, for example, or during times of war. There are historical moments when it becomes clear to each one of us that the actions that we take as individuals will matter very little. Peter Singer, in his look at his Jewish family's Austrian past during World War II, and Nancy MacLean, in her examination of the 20th-century rise of the Ku Klux Klan (which had had a previous incarnation during Reconstruction), allow us insight into two periods in history during which so many individuals were overwhelmed by the tide of history, and the ways in which some chose to resist cultural inundation.

The town of Athens, Georgia, in the early decades of the 20th century and the city of Vienna in

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Category: History - P