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I've read this a few times already but there's so much to take in, at 1,365 pages.

Recent events have made some of the author's assumptions about "the present", at time of writing (published 1997), seem quaint.

Shows the impact of the big events on the social and personal lives of people. Easy reading. I may have liked it more because as an old man from working-class northern England, I recognized a lot of what happened in the last 100 years of the book from personal and grandparent's lives.

Continues the story of the 3 women who became friends at Cambridge, interwoven with the travels of some men they know who go to Cambodia and meet interesting people and fates.

Second volume of series. Best read in order.

I particularly liked it because it covers declining northern English industrial areas centred on friends, family and acquaintances of three people from there who later went to Cambridge University. A sociological and psychological take on the differences between classes and the psychological variety of people of all classes; aristocracy, professional, working, petit bourgois, ...

Very easy to read, draws lots of connections between all its sub-topics. The only drawback was too much Marx. Not the Marxist perspective, which is an illuminating one and present in all his books, it's just that Marx was active in this period and even the book doesn't show that his influence over the events was sufficient to justify how many times he is mentioned.

I love Drabble's writing and this story of three women covered a lot of my own background ― being from Northern England and being a bit of a misfit in Cambridge University, not very long before my times ― so I found its descriptions to be accurate and memory-stirring.

I had to quit last time because I got too busy.

But it was interesting. Let's see if I can make it through this very thick tome in French this time.

@igb@books.hccp.org

I just started reading this. I has to take a break for family reasons and only just got round to starting again.

Covers not just the violent revolutions of the age but the transformations of social conditions and economics, taking a #systemsThinking perspective.

Also covers culture, arts, religion and sciences.

Excellent detail and much food for thought from a single volume.

I should have waited a bit after reading "Three Women" because of their similarities.

Still, another excellent character, family and social study, this time focused around US politics. It's told from the point of view of the third child in the family who, unfortunately for us, is excluded from the politics that I would have liked to heard more about, but still reveals a good deal about how disconnected US politics is from the needs of Americans.

I have had this for a while and it kept slipping down my "to read" pile. What a mistake. A brilliant portrayal of a complex family.