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PETER MANSBRIDGE (NEWSCASTER):
- Peter: AT THE 11th HOUR OF THE 11th DAY OF THE 11th MONTH, WE PAUSE AND REMEMBER THOSE WHO HAVE SACRIFICED IN TIMES OF WAR.
AND THERE WERE MILLIONS IN THE LAST CENTURY.
ONE AUTHOR WHO HAS STUDIED SOME OF THE 20th CENTURY'S MOST HISTORIC BATTLES HAS A NEW BOOK, AND THIS WEEK HE'S OUR GUEST IN WHAT HAS BECOME OUR ANNUAL SEARCH TO UNDERSTAND THE MEANING AND CONSEQUENCES OF CONFLICT.
AND, HELLO, I'M PETER MANSBRIDGE ONE ON ONE TODAY WITH ANTONY BEEVOR, THE INTERNATIONALLY RESPECTED AUTHOR, ESPECIALLY OF A NUMBER OF BOOKS IN TERMS OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR, STALINGRAD, THE FALL OF BERLIN, 1945, AND NOW "D-DAY: THE BATTLE FOR NORMANDY."
WELCOME.
WELCOME TO CANADA.
- Antony Beevor: THANK YOU, PETER.
- Peter: I WAS THINKING AS I WAS FLIPPING THROUGH THIS BOOK THAT AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY, THE TURN OF THE MILLENNIUM, AROUND 2000, I GOT A NUMBER OF ON-AIR CONVERSATIONS WHERE WE BEGAN TO VENTURE WHETHER OR NOT THE FASCINATION WITH THE SECOND WORLD WAR, IN FACT, THE TWO GREAT WARS OF THE PAST CENTURY, WOULD CONTINUE AS WE MOVED IN TO A NEW CENTURY, A NEW MILLENNIUM AND THE VETERANS CONTINUE TO PASS AWAY AT A RATHER TREMENDOUS RATE AS THEY DO NOW, BUT I WAS WRONG BECAUSE THAT FASCINATION STILL EXISTS AND CERTAINLY EXISTS FROM THE POPULARITY OF YOUR BOOKS.
- Antony Beevor: I WAS WRONG TOO.
I MEAN, IN 1995, THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE END OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR, ALL OF THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY'S BOOKS FAILED TO SELL.
I WAS WORKING ON STALINGRAD AT THE MOMENT AND I THOUGHT I HAVE CHOSEN THE WRONG MOMENT!
IT WASN'T THE CASE AT ALL.
INTEREST WAS INCREASING.
THERE WAS A NUMBER OF ELEMENTS HERE.
I THINK ACTUALLY ATTITUDES TO HISTORY HAD ACTUALLY BEEN CHANGING WITHOUT US REALIZING DURING THE 1980s, AND THERE WAS AN INTEREST IN THE FATE OF THE INDIVIDUAL MUCH MORE THAN IN THE COLLECTIVE VERSION OF HISTORY IN THE PAST.
- Peter: WHAT DO YOU THINK PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR THEN?
- Antony Beevor: WELL, WE'RE IN TO A POST-MILITARY SOCIETY.
WE'RE ALSO IN TO AN ERA OF HEALTH AND SAFETY, AND I THINK THE PEOPLE ARE FASCINATED BY A...