Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945

By: Tony Judt

Narrated by: Ralph Cosham

Length: 43 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize • Winner of the Council on Foreign Relations Arthur Ross Book Award • One of the New York Times’ Ten Best Books of the Year

“Impressive . . . Mr. Judt writes with enormous authority.” —The Wall Street Journal

“Magisterial . . . It is, without a doubt, the most comprehensive, authoritative, and yes, readable postwar history.” —The Boston Globe

Almost a decade in the making, this much-anticipated grand history of postwar Europe from one of the world’s most esteemed historians and intellectuals is a singular achievement. Postwar is the first modern history that covers all of Europe, both east and west, drawing on research in six languages to sweep listeners through thirty-four nations and sixty years of political and cultural change—all in one integrated, enthralling narrative. The book incorporates international relations, domestic politics, ideas, social change, economic development, and culture—high and low. Every country has its chance to play the lead, and although the big themes are superbly handled—including the cold war, the love/hate relationship with America, cultural and economic malaise and rebirth, and the myth and reality of unification—none of them is allowed to overshadow the rich pageant that is the whole. Vividly and clearly written for the general listener, witty, opinionated, and full of fresh and surprising stories and asides, Postwar is a movable feast for lovers of history and lovers of Europe alike.

Both intellectually ambitious and compelling, thrilling in its scope and delightful in its small details, Postwar is a rare joy.

©2005 Tony Judt (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“A book that has the pace of a thriller and the scope of an encyclopedia…A very considerable achievement…Brilliant." ( New York Review of Books)

“Remarkable…. The writing is vivid; the coverage—of little countries as well as of great ones—is virtually superhuman.” ( The New Yorker)

“Massive, kaleidoscopic, and thoroughly readable…[Judt’s] book now becomes the definitive account of Europe’s rise from the ashes and its takeoff into an uncertain future.” ( Time)

must read

everybody needs to read this, especially Europeans. Very comprehensive book about the history of our time.

Very good book

Honestly I just didn't know that much about post WWII history in Europe until recently and this was part of learning about that period, about how Europe was rebuilt and how we got to where we are today.

I'm giving the book 5-stars, if you have even a passing interest in this period you should pick-up this book without giving it another thought.

With that said let me offer some mild criticism -- these should not keep you from purchasing the book but there were a few things I could have done without.

The author is by no means anti-American but almost seems to suffer from a really rare strain of not really giving a care. This I must say is rare since generally Europeans are so arrogant and snobish about America you just assuming anything to do with the US will be negative in todays post-USSR world. This is not the case. The author doesn't blame every bad thing that happens in Europe on America -- but he also doesn't really give America credit for anything either. It really seems that the further you go back the more neutral the stance is, as the book gets closer to today it gets a bit more cold towards the US including taking swipes (not shots to be clear) at Reagan basically discounting his role in bringing down the Soviet Union. This is annoying in my mind but wasn't done in an offensive way -- he wasn't bashing but it's pretty obvious he wasn't a fan of Reagan or Thatcher. At the same time he does a great job of explaining how people in the eastern block lived and how communists ruled, which means it's a pretty negative take on that.

So in total this book is very balanced and works extremely well as a modern history.

Not to be missed

This is one of the best and most important books ever written. Judt is a polymath. The first member of his family to finish

high school, he has a unique and extremely insightful take on European and world political, social, economic, cultural and military history since World War II. Not to be missed.

A book for reading rather than listening

The book is full of data and numbers, making it hard to follow. But it contains troves of valuable information and insights. It's worth having on paper

Really good, but not excellent

Any additional comments?

Narrator's pace takes some getting used to, but not terrible. The history lacks continuity at times and gives no context as to why the author chose to cover some subjects and not others. Admittedly, this is a huge scope, but no reasons given for why subjects were/were not chosen.

All in all, a decent book with some new and different insights.

A revelatory book, and an essential read

I learned more about postwar Europe in the first three chapters of this brilliant book than I did in the first four years of college. Judt expertly weaves together the economic, political, military, social and cultural undercurrents that that shaped the continent following the surrender of the Axis powers. One of the most interesting parts of the narrative was how access to information and entertainment (in the form of cinematic films and television) helped shape postwar consumerism as well as politics. And Judt's plain-spoken explanations of the motivations and machinations of the Soviets during this period revealed so much, to me, about the attitudes and inclinations of modern day Europe, Russia and the former Eastern Bloc countries. If you want to understand today's world, you have to look at what came before and this is a wonderful book to start from. I'm not sure I'm able to heap enough praise on Judt and this achievement. As for Ralph Cosham's narration, I found it imminently capable but, as is often the case when the narrator's primary language is English, Cosham does stumble often in his pronunciations of foreign language words and phrases. All forgivable thanks to the wonderful book he reads aloud.

UNFORGETTABLE

This is one of 100 best books I’ve read in my life. Judt’s erudition is vast, his judgment is true, and his prose is elegant.

Exhaustive, Impressive History of Postwar Europe

Overall
This is a fantastic selection. History heads will love this.

Details
This book is amazingly detailed. There are hundreds of names to remember. My recommendation for audiobook listeners is to google or wiki search each major player (especially if it is a non-English name and the listener is unfamiliar with the language). I think this helps the listener keep the different persons straight, and I feel it also helps to cement the memory.

Length
This book is intimidatingly long. If you can listen on a faster speed and still take it in, I would recommend doing that. However, if you listen to your books periodically, don't worry. This isn't the sort of book where you'll feel lost if you pick it up again after a couple of weeks. I would simply recommend going back 5 minutes or so when you start up again.

Pace
For a subject which is not exactly "action packed" throughout, this is a very entertaining book.

Narrator
In my opinion, this narrator is perfect for the subject. Some certainly will not like him. I really enjoy listening to history told by the "old British male" type narrator.

Author
The author is clearly brilliant. It would be hard for me to imagine that anyone knows the subject better. He does interject his opinion and write with a slant at times. I don't always love this. However, it's a bit unrealistic to expect to read a totally unbiased book. In this case, the author spends a lot of time on culture and society, and that actually makes it not just appropriate but almost necessary that he tells things through his lens.

A memorable masterpiece

One of the most important books I’ve read about 20th century history. Beautifully written and superbly narrated.

classic

this book should be seen as a fractal Enterprise, just as for most readers, myself included, many areas and topics will sound new, just as this is so individual topics here can be delved into for again as much detail. this is a wonderful survey tour and uncommonly for history the insights of the author are overwhelmingly of great value.