The first couple of chapters were a little difficult for me as they were exercises in mental masturbation, where the author tried to sound erudite, but ultimately made no point. However, I'm glad I stuck with it and read the whole history.

This is a history based on themes and while it is loosely chronological as it progresses through the 20th century, the chapters are more intent on talking about ideas or paradigms that helped shape the century. Some of these chapters were quite good.

As the author neared the final decades of the 20th century though, he moved away from a creative explanation into the realm of axe grinding, bashing on the church and any other individual or institution that didn't fit his progressive viewpoint. This was really too bad, because some of the other chapters were incredibly insightful and approached the early/middle part of the century from new angles that provoked thought. The final chapters were both glib and politicized.

Also, this is almost entirely a history of the "Western World" with a heavy emphasis on Europe and the United States. You won't find hardly anything in here regarding Asia (I feel like communism could have been a chapter and then the author could have hit on East Asia quite easily within the framework of the book), Africa, or the Middle East.

Understand that while this book has plenty of flaws, it is a great exercise in viewing history in a multiple narrative format that looks at how people think and influence others versus the typical chronological narrative that you are probably used to. I would suggest picking this one up off the shelf and reading it, despite its faults--I think you will gain some great insights.

The book purports to tell some sort of a "hidden history of the 20th century". Actually, with the exception of the rather needlessly long description of the occult obsessions of the US space pioneer Jack Parsons, it's filled with the most familiar themes and characters: Aleister Crowley, Ayn Rand, Freud & Jung, Einstein, Duchamp's urinal, The Rite of Spring riot, Gödel's theorem, Schrödinger's cat, Mandelbrot set, V-2 rocket, Joseph Campbell & Star Wars, sexual revolution & feminism, personhood of the corporations, butterfly effect, feedback loops, neopaganism and selfie epidemic. Rather than going for the unfamiliar, it uses the familiar to construct a Grand Theory of the 20th Century — which is brief, simple and surprisingly coherent. The really strong point of the book is the way it sees 20th century as a foreign country, where things were done differently: it is useful to understand the ways and customs of this country, but one has to accept the fact that it's no longer reachable, that it's time to say goodbye and stop obsessing over the trivia that is rather meaningless in the larger scheme of things.

The second of Higgs’ books I’ve read, following KLF. The two deal with similar themes— where KLF dives into the specifics of that band and confluence of factors which propelled them to fame, and uses that to theorize broadly on the twentieth century as a liminal period in history, Stranger Than We Can Imagine takes a broader but perhaps shallower approach to the general question.

Higgs really goes for it here, weaving a tale of the twentieth century centered on its lack of a center. He describes the past century’s revelations in science, art, philosophy, religion, and culture as inherently connected by the loss of a central intersubjective meaning (an “omphalos”), leading to the emergence of necessarily relative viewpoints and embrace of individualism. The final section on “Network” is the denouement both of the book and of the twentieth century— the interconnectedness of the internet age having fundamentally altered how we relate to each other individually, to ourselves, and to the global society at large.

I found it fascinating, but less revelatory and enjoyable than KLF... although as this book is a historical analysis and KLF is more of a biographical story expanded to history and culture, maybe that’s to be expected.

I can't really believe that I am giving a history book 5 stars. It was a subject that bored me to tears in school and never came alive for me in the way that this clever work does. I can only thank the author for presenting so much detail in such an enjoyable way around many events I had only a basic headline knowledge about. I had to force myself to stop going off in other directions to explore more or I would never have finished it. However, although I doubt I will read this from cover to cover in full again, I will certainly be dipping in and out to follow up on the multitude of references which caught my interest. I loved the way Higgs' sense of humour came across throughout as well - something else I have never known in a history book. Perhaps I should read more after all?

Großartiger ideen- und kulturhistorischer Überblick über das 20. Jahrhundert. Dabei sehr unterhaltsam geschrieben und mit überraschenden, aber durchaus treffenden, Beispielen auch aus der Popkultur. Es gibt einige Momente zum Lachen und viel zum Nachdenken. Der Schluss ist mir dann ein wenig zu optimistisch - vielleicht weil das Buch einfach zwei oder drei Jahr zu früh geschrieben wurde...

I loved this from start to finish. The examples chosen to illustrate how modern consciousness has changed over the last century were each fascinating and flowed well from one to the next. I listened to the audiobook version of this — it happens to be a rare instance of an audiobook narrated by its own author with a compelling and excellent performance.