Worlds Ago
A Memoir of My Journeying Years
Walter Laqueur
With a new preface and conclusion by the author

An eminent historian recounts his journeys from Germany during WWII to the MIddle East, Europe, and the United States.

Originally published in 1993, Worlds Ago is not only about politics of the times, but also about the world into which he was born and raised and the world that shaped him: pre-war Germany in 1921, where he witnessed the rise of the Nazi party.  It is a story of families, friendships, and early love; achievements and disappointments; and facing and surviving dangerous circumstances in which many of those close to him lost their lives. It was a world where calm seas and waters were rare and survivors were lucky to escape the engines of war.

This memoir further recounts his experience as an agricultural laborer on a kibbutz, in what was Palestine at the time, living among Bedouin and Arab herdsmen, sharing their labor and lifestyle.  Laqueur became a journalist and writer in his twenties, and witnessed the dramatic events in the Middle East and the emergence of Israel in the aftermath of World War II.  He came to know many of the leading figures on both sides who were involved in the establishment of the State of Israel.  Walter Laqueur went on to become one of the leading historians and interpreters of the Weimar period in Germany.  This edition, revised to tell his story up until 1948, also includes a new introduction.

Walter Laqueur was director of the Weiner Library and the Institute of Contemporary History in London.  He was founder and editor of the Journal of Contemporary History, and other publications.  Laqueur taught at Harvard, the University of Chicago, Johns Hopkins, and Tel Aviv University.  His last academic position was university professor at Georgetown.

273 pp.

The Political Psychology of Appeasement

Finlandization and Other Unpopular Essays

Walter Laqueur

With a new preface by the author

First published in the 1980s, The Political Psychology of Appeasement contains some of the most influential political journalism of the 1970s.  The author, a leading contemporary historian and commentator on international affairs, provides an incisive critique of the weaknesses and inconsistencies of U.S. foreign policy in the 1970s as well as a diagnosis of the malaise of Western Europe.

Laqueur's essays range from the subject of Finlandization to the problems of peace in the Middle East and the origins of political terrorism.  To each of these areas he brings a deep and compassionate sensibility, the knowledge of a professional historian, and the sharp eye of an experienced journalist.  Not only is Laqueur a global thinker, but his thought is undergirded by the experiences of world travel and an intimate knowledge of world leaders.

Most of this book's essays are pessimistic because the author addresses his topics bluntly and pragmatically.  Many of Laueur's predictions have been borne out by subsequent events.  As he ruefully says in his original preface, there is nothing so conducive to lack of popularity than to be right prematurely.  Made timeless by their insightful honesty, his essays teach us about the art of political appeasement and prediction in the modern geopolitical landscape.

Walter Laqueur was director of the Weiner Library and the Institute of Contemporary History in London.  He was founder and editor of the Journal of Contemporary History, and other publications.  Laqueur taught at Harvard, the University of Chicago, Johns Hopkins, and Tel Aviv University.  His last academic position was university professor at Georgetown.

287 pp.