Why read From the Ashes of History?

Book cover of From the Ashes of History: Collective Trauma and the Making of International Politics

Book description

In recent years, calls for reparations and restorative justice, alongside the rise of populist grievance politics, have demonstrated the stubborn resilience of traumatic memory. From the transnational Black Lives Matter movement's calls for reckoning with the legacy of slavery and racial oppression, to continued efforts to secure recognition of the…

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Why read it?

1 author picked From the Ashes of History as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Raphael Cohen-Almagor

Author

This is the best book in international relations that I read this year. It raises an important contribution to the literature.

In this thoughtful book, Lerner provides a new understanding and application of the "narrative identity approach" in International Relations. Combining theory with applications, Lerner studied the long-term impacts of colonialism on Indian state-building, the Holocaust in Israeli security discourses, and the role of PTSD in reimaging US foreign policy.

The book is wide-ranging, and it uncovers new grounds. It is learned and original, combining an insightful theoretical framework with fascinating case studies. To my mind, Lerner makes a compelling…

From Raphael's 3 favorite reads in 2023.