"Zara Steiner's work has ensured that we will have to treat that neglected decade [the 1920s] with proper respect. She has told the story with impeccable scholarship, clarity and compassion....Her book will rightly become the definitive work on the period."--Margaret MacMillan, Times Literary Supplement"Any reader who wants to understand the inter-War period should consult this book and any serious student of the period should buy it. For there is simply nothing to compare with it in terms of erudition or exposition. Above all Zara Steiner ensures that we read history forward not backward."--The Independent"Majestic and authoritative volume...The Lights that Failed skillfully and judiciously deploys the fruits of extensive reading and long reflection....Embedded in its comprehensive survey of the main protagonists and themes is a radical and fascinating argument."--Mark Mazower, BBC"A dazzling account....This combination of human drama and a broad international perspective, shifting between western, eastern and Atlantic viewpoints, is a governing strength of the narrative, at once providing fascinating detail, balance, and vivid variety of pace and content. Steiner's long, wise view of international relations during the last epoch when western Europe confidently believed itself the centre of the world is compelling reading for anyone concerned with the continent's past--or future."--FT Magazine"Impressive"--David Stevenson, LRB"Zara Steiner has produced a splendid volume, chock full of detail and with many thought-provoking insights. It will remain a classic for many years to come. For those studying international business history it will serve as an excellent background reference manual to the period...If one were to ask for more it would be the second volume in the same vein."--Derek H. Aldcroft, Business History