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tomspencer93's review against another edition
Final section covered more modern era. To revisit at later date
sense_of_history's review against another edition
Impressive book, no doubt about that. But it also has its flaws. See my review in my general 'Marc'-account: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/497462058
marc129's review against another edition
4.0
This book is a real 'tour de force': incredibly balanced in its width, accurate in its general outlines and details, critical and lucid. Judt brings a reasonably classic political narrative of European history, but adds it with many socio-economic data and elements on mentality. All well supported by statistics, examples and quotations.
The whole book also has a personal stamp: an at times explicit nostalgic yearning to the time social democracy improved so many things in Europe, for so many people. In that sense Judt isn't very popular with neoliberals and neocons these days. You can endlessly debate about that, but Judt at least had the courage to stand for his opinions.
Yet there are also some clear weaknesses in this book: Judt regularly settles personal scores, with the generation of May 68 for example, with the 'Third Way' of Blair, with Mitterrand and so on. And in the end this historical work inevitably becomes more of an essay which results in rather ambiguous points of view, like on the European Union.
Remarkable is the central place Judt gives to the way the Holocaust has been dealt with in different countries; he uses it as a benchmark to judge people and deeds; the essay that is added at the end of the book rightfully underlines this. This is a must read for years to come!
The whole book also has a personal stamp: an at times explicit nostalgic yearning to the time social democracy improved so many things in Europe, for so many people. In that sense Judt isn't very popular with neoliberals and neocons these days. You can endlessly debate about that, but Judt at least had the courage to stand for his opinions.
Yet there are also some clear weaknesses in this book: Judt regularly settles personal scores, with the generation of May 68 for example, with the 'Third Way' of Blair, with Mitterrand and so on. And in the end this historical work inevitably becomes more of an essay which results in rather ambiguous points of view, like on the European Union.
Remarkable is the central place Judt gives to the way the Holocaust has been dealt with in different countries; he uses it as a benchmark to judge people and deeds; the essay that is added at the end of the book rightfully underlines this. This is a must read for years to come!
corpoto's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.5
Extremely informative. Very dense and reads like a text book.
jtgill's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
jasonhrleereads's review against another edition
5.0
A powerful reminder of why history is so integral. Judt demonstrates that how we remember our past constitutes the present we make for ourselves.
If we are ever to forget the brutality of racism, antisemitism and oppression of the past then we damn ourselves to a present in which they once again advance.
Europe which has found such miraculous peace can only keep it if it keeps its values and to do that it must remember.
If we are ever to forget the brutality of racism, antisemitism and oppression of the past then we damn ourselves to a present in which they once again advance.
Europe which has found such miraculous peace can only keep it if it keeps its values and to do that it must remember.
kieranhealy's review against another edition
5.0
History is a tricky thing, more so than many realize. The facts we know may turn out to be shades of truth, or outright lies. One of the jobs of historians is to examine and decipher the past, to discover motivations and to interpret them to others. To attempt this for an entire continent is a task I would have considered insane. Instead, Tony Judt created a masterpiece of historical literature with Postwar. But it is a dense, comprehensive masterpiece. Judt goes through over half a century of history for an entire continent, made of wildly disparate countries and cultures, and deftly covers the changes from multiple angles and for every country. Never before have I read so complex a topic, and never again do I suspect that it will be dispensed in such a coherent, readable way.
The difficulty with this book is not in the reading, or prose, or organization. It is that the sheer volume of information comes so properly done, that it was nearly too much to comprehend. Judt is not just telling the history, but unpacking and re-examining it. There are constant revelations through the book, page after page. I would have to put the book down for a week, just to let all that information soak in from a single chapter (or section of a chapter). I also found it relatively free of bias, and where it showed up, Judt makes strong arguments that, while I am certainly in no capacity to counter, were strong and convincing. Written in 2005, 5 years before his death, and Judt had already seen the writing on the wall for today's political climate in the United States, Britain, and their relationship with the EU. Remarkable.
It is an insane amount of information, but it will be a book I refer to again and again. Quite easily one of the best books I've ever read. Even though, off and on, it took me a year.
The difficulty with this book is not in the reading, or prose, or organization. It is that the sheer volume of information comes so properly done, that it was nearly too much to comprehend. Judt is not just telling the history, but unpacking and re-examining it. There are constant revelations through the book, page after page. I would have to put the book down for a week, just to let all that information soak in from a single chapter (or section of a chapter). I also found it relatively free of bias, and where it showed up, Judt makes strong arguments that, while I am certainly in no capacity to counter, were strong and convincing. Written in 2005, 5 years before his death, and Judt had already seen the writing on the wall for today's political climate in the United States, Britain, and their relationship with the EU. Remarkable.
It is an insane amount of information, but it will be a book I refer to again and again. Quite easily one of the best books I've ever read. Even though, off and on, it took me a year.