As part of our longing for eternity, we have tried to preserve the traces of important events with monuments almost since the dawn of known history. What do these monumental works say after the passing of their contemporaries, how does the change in history shape their meaning? Keith Lowe, an internationally recognized expert on the Second World War, traveled almost the entire world in the era of statue decisions to visit the most important monuments that preserve the memory of the World War, including the German Occupation Victims Memorial in Budapest. The works tell a variety of stories, from the triumph of the American marines to the horror of the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima, from the heroic Soviet war of defense to the despicable carnage in Katyn, from the triumph of liberation to the unfathomable tragedy of the millions of prisoners who will no longer experience this triumph. Winners and losers, survivors and victims. Keith Lowe's seminal book explores the stories that monuments attempt to capture and their changes, and highlights how history captures us and shapes our identities in unexpected ways.