World's End
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From the acclaimed author of The Jungle: The first in a Pulitzer Prize–winning historical saga about the son of an American arms dealer during WWI. Lanning “Lanny” Budd spends his first thirteen years in Europe, living at the center of his mother’s glamourous circle of friends on the French Riviera. In 1913, he enters a prestigious Swiss boarding school and befriends Rick, an English boy, and Kurt, a German. The three schoolmates are privileged, happy, and precocious—but their world is about to come to an abrupt and violent end. When the gathering storm clouds of war finally burst, raining chaos and death over the continent, Lanny must put the innocence of youth behind him; his language skills and talent for decoding messages are in high demand. At his father’s side, he meets many important political and military figures, learns about the myriad causes of the conflict, and closely follows the First World War’s progress. When the bloody hostilities eventually conclude, Lanny joins the Paris Peace Conference as the assistant to a geographer asked by President Woodrow Wilson to redraw the map of Europe. Perfect for fans of The Winds of War, World’s End is the magnificent opening chapter of a monumental series that brings the first half of the twentieth century to vivid life. A thrilling mix of history, adventure, and romance, the Lanny Budd Novels are a testament to the breathtaking scope of Upton Sinclair’s vision and his singular talents as a storyteller.
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2 primary books#1 in Lanny Budd
Lanny Budd is a 2-book series with 2 released primary works first released in 1940 with contributions by Upton Sinclair.
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[b:World's End 28586585 World's End (The Lanny Budd Novels) Upton Sinclair https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1453019132s/28586585.jpg 197780] is the first of [a:Upton Sinclair 23510 Upton Sinclair https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1438843258p2/23510.jpg]'s Lanny Budd novels.At the start of the book, Lanny is a 13-year-old boy living with his glamorous mother on the French Riviera. A teenage boy is good vehicle to show pre-WW1 Europe. The reader gets to learn that lost European world along with Lanny as we follow his teenage adventures. In a posh Swiss boarding school Lanny meets Rick, an English boy, and Kurt, a German boy. They soon become fast friends. The three boys are all well to do and live a privileged and happy life. But, their world soon comes to an abrupt and violent end with the start of hostilities. The story then follows Lanny's life and, at one remove, the lives of Rick and Kurt throughout world war 1. Lots of other interesting folks, both fictional and historical, also people the book.World's End provides a nice mix of history, adventure, and romance. Sinclair puts in lots of detail about life in Europe before and during the war, and after the armistice. This first book in the series ends at the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.Sinclair has a nice direct writing style which I rather like. His muckraking roots show in his characterization of the armaments/munitions industries, but that doesn't get in the way of the story.Sinclair's main protagonist, Lanny Budd, is a very precocious and likable young man. He seems almost too good to believe. I chose to think of him as an outlier. Out of millions of people, there would have to be a few such special ones.Though originally published in 1940, the story really doesn't feel very dated. Some of the problems it highlights could come from today's headlines. Problems related to extreme concentration of wealth, unemployment, incestuous military-industrial relationships, trends toward economic nationalism, and political corruption all seem very familiar.All in all, a pretty good book.
