Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945

De: Tony Judt

Narrado por: Ralph Cosham

Duración: 43 h y 1 m

Resumen del Editor

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.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“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)

Long book, does not get old

I am not sure why I bought this book. The history of western Europe after the war does not exactly seem the most fun to hear portion of human history; in fact, one would expect a lot of economic numbers about what Europe rebuild while all of the interesting historical stuff was happening in Russia, the US or in Asia.

Certainly true, western Europe is not just economic growth but there was a lot going on at the time. First, these were the times were the foundations of the European Union were put into place. As a French, I always took that as a given and view the Germans as some of the friendliest in Europe (certainly more than the French). Nothing like that post-war, I did not know that, even in the fifties and sixties, the German government acted to stop the prosecution of known nazis or that a third of Germans had favorable views of Hitler (of course, that's very different now!). Second, I did not realize the general cultural boom all across Europe, specially given the current constant hammering of American pop culture in modern Europe. Third, there is a lot of dark history to be learnt from eastern Europe and its complete abandonment by the western countries.

The greatness of the book is the material is delivered in a very lively manner, in a way that is very accessible to a history layman. The only possible cost of this is that the economic history has certainly taken the back seat, and (while this is just my opinion) it seems that most of western history is due to politicians rather than the evermore inter-connected business world.

History as I never understood or knew it before

Long, very long, and comprehensive. Incredibly detailed, but mostly incredibly wise and insightful, the wisdom of the insider and the outsider at once in one massive, indispensable narrative. I will listen again some time fairly soon.

A thorough recounting of a critical period

This book gives a comprehensive summary of every aspect of the postwar period in Europe. I can’t imagine anything that could provide more detail and a better overview.

Monumental book, worth listening to more than once

Yes, it's a very long book - 43 hours - but you shouldn't loose interest while listening to it. It keeps mind engaged and inspires to reflect. I'm listening to the book for the second time and may return to it at again at some point in the future. A lot of material to digest! A lot to think about. It is not centered solely on principal countries of Western Europe, as is often the case, but also sheds light on events in smaller and more peripheral countries. It helped me correct some of my misconceptions. Narration is very good.

A humbling, panoramic eye opener

Possibly the best history I've ever encountered. Unflinching, non-ideological, and ruthlessly unbiased, Judt has the integrity of a scientist of the highest order, dedicated only to inquiry. Presented with the clarity, precision and wit of a great artist - a la Gore Vidal.

Great read

Perfect interesting audiobook. Narrator was great and author put a personal touch on a lot of the events. Felt logical and easy to follow.

remarkable achievement

it is often hard to follow such complicated history in general, let alone in an audiobook. it was gripping and moves like a novel even though it has over 800 pages to it. it's also fairly easy if you want to skip some sections since it's well organized by country with certain themes the focus of certain chapters. it's also clear that there is a bit of an agenda in the book in the best way, trying to make an argument about social democracy.

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.