Century: One Hundred Years of Human Progress, Regression, Suffering and Hope

I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.

-J. Robert Oppenheimer, on the explosion of the first atomic bomb in New Mexico, 16 July 1945.-p. 325

Title: Century: One Hundred Years of Human Progress, Regression , Suffering and Hope.

Conceived & edited: Bruce Bernard.

Other contributors: Terence McNamee; Ricard Davenport.

Year: 1999

Publisher: PHIDON Press, London.

ISBN: 0714838489

This book is a collection of photography book in my workplace. Definitely it's not meant to be borrowed and I wouldn't borrow it even if I want. It's a gigantic book ever! A very heavy one too! I discovered this book early this year (before that I was not interested as the book cover was very unappealing) and since then, this book has been one of my favourite passtime during work. I was rushing to end this book as I will not able to devour it anymore next time. I'll resign next month. I enjoyed it not only the pictures but also the writings. Lots of poems, quotes and historical notes inside.

Some say a picture worth a thousand words. A great book, a book truer than the event itself. Susan Sontag said, 'A photograph is not only an image [as painting as an image], an interpretation of the real; it is also a trace, something directly stencilled off the real, like a footprint or a death mask.'p680.

footstep on snow after the war in Rusia

This person being rescued at Lebanon UN shelter after misdirected shell. Killed 150 people.

All I can say is this book is full of war...war...war...
From the world war I until world war II and continues afterwards, Bosnian civil war, the cold war, Vietnam war ... History never fail to repeat itself.

You'll be amazed to see all the historical pictures from all over the world mostly of from the previous century . 1899 until 1999. Cool facts that is unknown to others. Like Fidelio was the only opera Beethoven ever compose. To see the Boxer Rising of Japanese in China, where the human head cutted off bizarrely, suicide, killings,Nazi's execution.There is this one guerilla army proudly smile looking at a head while the other was holding it --almost bring me nightmares.--

Politics and the fate of mankind are formed by men without ideals and without greatness. Those who have greatness within them do not go in for politics - Albert Camus, Notebooks, 1935-42 -pg 322.

What attract me the most is the pictures of Arabs, especially between Palestine and Israel. There are also happy pictures once for a while. Such Marilyn Monroe, World Cup, beauty pageant but it was devastating to know that in other part of the world, at the same time, had been war and disaster. I feel remorseful when I flipped onto another picture of corpses.

I would suggest you read this book if you're interested in history like myself. Why? Because there a lot of important figures in the century portrait in photos and it'll be a waste if you can't relate those with your own knowledge. Otherwise it's gonna be dreadful as you'll probably only see suffering here.

All good books are alike in they are truer than if they had really happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to to you: the good and the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse and sorrow, the people and the places and how the weather was. 
- Earnest Hemmingway, 'Old Newsman Writes', Esquire, December 1934.-p 322.

ps:Bruce Bernard, the photo editor for this book died in 2000 at the age 72.

pss: I'll put up some pictures later. I can't right now because there's something wrong with my pc uploader.

xoxo