Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945

By: Tony Judt

Narrated by: Ralph Cosham

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)

A sweeping reflection on Postwar Europe.

This is one of the best historical books I have read/listened to. Tony Judt is one of the finest minds in his field of his generation and comprehensively covers many areas of Postwar Europe.

It is superbly written and evidently exhaustively researched. Covers a lot of ground that I myself hadn't covered before and goes a long way in explaining the current Eastern European conflicts and the ground work for the EU and beyond. Whether you agree with Judt's conclusions or his standpoints is immaterial, there is no doubt in my mind that this book opens a lot of people's eyes on the Europe we had and why we have arrived at what we have now. I intend to read more of his books,

The narration, by Ralph Cosham (who I believe has done a few other of Judt's works is clear and intelligible.

Highly recommended.

Large-scale, big trend history

The level of detail is fantastic. After listening, I feel I have a good sense of Europe as it moved from the end of WW2 until sometime early in the 21st century.

The book covers every country and gives each its due. I learned quite a bit about how the EU evolved from a coal and steel free-trade agreement to its all-encompassing nature of today, and how sharp the split between the West and East were.

For caveats, only three characters emerge from the narrative as distinct individuals: Thatcher, Mitterrand, and Gorbachev. Other characters like Adenauer, DeGaulle, and others get time, but they don't emerge as full human beings.

Which is ultimately my only complaint about the book. It writes about trends and large-scale upheaval which makes sense in its way, but that gives the book's treatment of the end of communism a false note. It applies Marxist analysis to the end of Marxism by saying that only communism could have ended communism.

Perhaps, but that is difficult to believe given the acknowledged falsity of Marxist ideology. It's as if the living counterpoint and refutation to everything communism believed and propagated didn't exist and had no influence on communism's end. According to the book, it was the withering of communism itself which ended communism; if the ideologues and intellectuals had continued with communism, it would still be here, and the influence of the West did not exist or did not matter.

Again, with that said, the book is a great large-scale history of Europe, and given its ambitions, there was no way to tell the story without cutting details or having a book which ran for thousands upon thousands of pages.


The voice performance is good. The only issue are when there were edits; it seems the narrator struggled, understandably, with some of the names and places of Eastern Europe, and the edits where the re-recordings were inserted were jarring both in quality and differences in volume.

Fantastic Scholarship, Narrative, and Narration

An absolutely amazing, and incredibly thorough, examination and unraveling of Europe in the years 1945-1989. Of course, by necessity, the book actually ranges well beyond these years, particularly back to the world wars, through the disillusion of the Soviet Union, and into the early 2000s. Judt manages to provide a comprehensive general history of postwar Europe, with examples and well-thought out analysis on everything from fiscal policy to music to consumer products to historiography. Obviously a must-read for anyone interested in 20th century European history, but also a very enjoyable book for any historian. The reader also does a fantastic job, reading at a consistent and even pace that keeps the reader interested without going too fast to follow.

Outstanding

Wonderful overview and thoughtful analysis of critical recent history. We need a clear understanding of events still shaping current events. This book does that.

Through a different looking glass

Having learned history only through the lens of the American experience and point of view, I have never really understood why there was so much resentment towards Americans. This book is written by a Brit and offers insight to the experience of the Europeans during and after WWII.

Most of the information was from a new point of view and offered a different perspective than I could not have developed on my own by consuming history written by Americans.

The book seems to skip about, but it is only a literary tool used to keep the timeline synchronized as the author worked each country into the history. At some points it was a little difficult to follow and there were some parts that seemed disingenuous, but that is only my opinion based on my perspective.

Outstanding book, fantastic education and it was well read. I completely enjoyed it.

Modern History at its best!

Long and sometimes wordy BUT if you love History this will satisfy you completely.

VERY interesting and important but not good listen

Where does Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

#1 This is my first audible book.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

All of the facts, figures and story related to post war Europe is very interesting. The least interesting chapters were those that dealt with culture rather than politics. Important but not as interesting.

What does Ralph Cosham bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I like his voice and the way he teaches the story. Plus, since it is a story about Europe having a British narrator makes sense and the story that much more "real."

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

This is nonfiction

Any additional comments?

This book is very interesting and important but I think because of that reason I would have appreciated reading it more deliberately. Occasionally I would drift off into thoughts about the comments made in the book. This book would have been better, at least for me if read rather than listened to.

Impressive detail

This is a thorough and needed history of postwar Europe. Although written in 2005 the concepts outlined in this book help explain many of the current issues in Europe, from the Russian invasion of Ukraine to Brexit. Do yourself a favor and check this out.

Amazing book by a stunning voice actor

Ralph Cosham is an amazing reader of anything. The book itself is awesome, and is a great overview of a part of European history Americans very rarely actually learn about.

A remarkable book

I consider this one of the two or three most important and enlightening books I've read in the last 15 years. It presents a very balanced view of post-war Europe, its problems, achievements and challenges. Having read a great deal of traditional European history, I thought I was reasonably well informed in that area, but I was wrong--at least in regard to contemporary Europe. I've had a typical Ameri-centric perspective, with no real knowledge or appreciation of what differentiates Europeans, not only from Americans, but from each other. The problems they have faced and continue to face make our red state/blue state battles seem petty. The author is equally critical of Socialism and Thatcherism, Communism and Fascism, and in my view presents a balanced approach to both America's achievements and contributions and its short-comings from a European perspective.