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Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 43 hrs and 1 min
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A New World Begins
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- Written by: Jeremy D. Popkin
- Narrated by: Pete Cross, Jeremy D. Popkin
- Length: 21 hrs and 54 mins
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The principles of the French Revolution remain the only possible basis for a just society - even if, after more than 200 years, they are more contested than ever before. In A New World Begins, Jeremy D. Popkin offers a riveting account of the revolution that puts the listener in the thick of the debates and the violence that led to the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of a new society.
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Learned a lot
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Our Oriental Heritage
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The first volume of Will Durant's Pulitzer Prize-winning series, Our Oriental Heritage: The Story of Civilization, Volume I chronicles the early history of Egypt, the Middle East, and Asia.
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Came here from a Elon Musk's recommendation
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This superbly told story brings to life one of the most remarkable rulers––and men––in all of history and conveys the drama of his life and world. The Russia of Peter's birth was very different from the Russia his energy, genius, and ruthlessness shaped. Crowned co-Tsar as a child of ten, after witnessing bloody uprisings in the streets of Moscow, he would grow up propelled by an unquenchable curiosity, everywhere looking, asking, tinkering, and learning, fired by Western ideas.
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Well Done
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The history of China is as rich and strange as that of any country on earth. Yet for many, China’s history remains unknown, or known only through the stylized images that generations in the West have cherished or reviled as truth. With his command of character and event - the product of 30 years of research and reflection in the field - Spence dispels those myths in a powerful narrative. Over four centuries of Chinese history, Spence fashions the astonishing story of the effort to achieve a modern China.
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Takes some getting used to, but great work.
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In Israel and the West, it is called the Six Day War. In the Arab world, it is known as the June War or, simply, as "the Setback". Never has a conflict so short, unforeseen, and largely unwanted by both sides so transformed the world. The Yom Kippur War, the war in Lebanon, the Camp David accords, the controversy over Jerusalem and Jewish settlements in the West Bank, the intifada, and the rise of Palestinian terror are all part of the outcome of those six days.
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Incredibly riveting and detailed account
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The British Empire was the largest in all history: the nearest thing to global domination ever achieved. The world we know today is in large measure the product of Britain's age of empire. The global spread of capitalism, telecommunications, the English language, and the institutions of representative government - all these can be traced back to the extraordinary expansion of Britain's economy, population, and culture from the 17th century until the mid-20th. On a vast and vividly colored canvas, Empire shows how the British Empire acted as midwife to modernity.
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great education on British colonialism
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A New World Begins
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Overall
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The principles of the French Revolution remain the only possible basis for a just society - even if, after more than 200 years, they are more contested than ever before. In A New World Begins, Jeremy D. Popkin offers a riveting account of the revolution that puts the listener in the thick of the debates and the violence that led to the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of a new society.
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Learned a lot
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Our Oriental Heritage
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The first volume of Will Durant's Pulitzer Prize-winning series, Our Oriental Heritage: The Story of Civilization, Volume I chronicles the early history of Egypt, the Middle East, and Asia.
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Came here from a Elon Musk's recommendation
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Written by: Will Durant
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Peter the Great
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This superbly told story brings to life one of the most remarkable rulers––and men––in all of history and conveys the drama of his life and world. The Russia of Peter's birth was very different from the Russia his energy, genius, and ruthlessness shaped. Crowned co-Tsar as a child of ten, after witnessing bloody uprisings in the streets of Moscow, he would grow up propelled by an unquenchable curiosity, everywhere looking, asking, tinkering, and learning, fired by Western ideas.
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Well Done
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The history of China is as rich and strange as that of any country on earth. Yet for many, China’s history remains unknown, or known only through the stylized images that generations in the West have cherished or reviled as truth. With his command of character and event - the product of 30 years of research and reflection in the field - Spence dispels those myths in a powerful narrative. Over four centuries of Chinese history, Spence fashions the astonishing story of the effort to achieve a modern China.
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Takes some getting used to, but great work.
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Six Days of War
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In Israel and the West, it is called the Six Day War. In the Arab world, it is known as the June War or, simply, as "the Setback". Never has a conflict so short, unforeseen, and largely unwanted by both sides so transformed the world. The Yom Kippur War, the war in Lebanon, the Camp David accords, the controversy over Jerusalem and Jewish settlements in the West Bank, the intifada, and the rise of Palestinian terror are all part of the outcome of those six days.
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Incredibly riveting and detailed account
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great education on British colonialism
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Virtually all Americans above a certain age hold strong opinions about Douglas MacArthur. They either worship him or despise him. Now, in this superb book, one of our most outstanding writers, after a meticulous three-year examination of the record, presents his startling insights about the man. The narrative is gripping, because the general's life was fascinating. It is moving, because he was a man of vision. It ends, finally, in tragedy, because his character, though majestic, was tragically flawed.
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This Pulitzer Prize-winning history of World War II chronicles the dramatic rise and fall of the Japanese empire, from the invasion of Manchuria and China to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Told from the Japanese perspective, The Rising Sun is, in the author’s words, "a factual saga of people caught up in the flood of the most overwhelming war of mankind, told as it happened - muddled, ennobling, disgraceful, frustrating, full of paradox."
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very well done
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In this fascinating history spanning continents and centuries, historian David Wootton offers a lively defense of science, revealing why the Scientific Revolution was truly the greatest event in our history. The Invention of Science goes back 500 years in time to chronicle this crucial transformation, exploring the factors that led to its birth and the people who made it happen. Wootton argues that the Scientific Revolution was actually five separate yet concurrent events that developed independently.
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Good
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The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind
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At the heart of this classic, seminal book is Julian Jaynes' still-controversial thesis that human consciousness did not begin far back in animal evolution but instead is a learned process that came about only 3,000 years ago and is still developing. The implications of this revolutionary scientific paradigm extend into virtually every aspect of our psychology, our history and culture, our religion - and indeed our future.
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Very few people know that Mark Twain wrote a major work on Joan of Arc. Still fewer know that he considered it not only his most important, but also his best work. He spent 12 years in research and many months in France doing archival work, and then made several attempts until he felt he finally had the story he wanted to tell.
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A TRULY AMAZING SOUL!
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The Great Game between Victorian Britain and Tsarist Russia was fought across desolate terrain from the Caucasus to China, over the lonely passes of the Parmirs and Karakorams, in the blazing Kerman and Helmund deserts, and through the caravan towns of the old Silk Road - both powers scrambling to control access to the riches of India and the East. When play first began, the frontiers of Russia and British India lay 2000 miles apart; by the end, this distance had shrunk to 20 miles at some points.
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if only history is taught like this in school
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Written by an author with plenty of experience holding a scalpel, Dr. David Schneider's in-depth biography is an encompassing history of the practice that has leapt forward over the centuries from the dangerous guesswork of ancient Greek physicians through the world-changing implant revolution of the 20th century.
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Good until the end
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The 14th century reflects two contradictory images: on the one hand, a glittering time of crusades and castles, cathedrals and chivalry, and the exquisitely decorated Books of Hours; and on the other, a time of ferocity and spiritual agony, a world of chaos and the plague.
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Good but missed the mark
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The Guns of August
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In this Pulitzer Prize-winning classic, historian Barbara Tuchman brings to life the people and events that led up to World War I. This was the last gasp of the Gilded Age, of Kings and Kaisers and Czars, of pointed or plumed hats, colored uniforms, and all the pomp and romance that went along with war. How quickly it all changed...and how horrible it became.
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Couldn’t finish it
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Human Action
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Ludwig von Mises is to economics what Albert Einstein is to physics. Human Action is his greatest work: a systematic study that covers every major topic in the science of economics. It is also one of the most convincing indictments of socialism and statism ever penned. When it first appeared in 1949, it ignited an eruption of critical acclaim.
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What a pity!
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It Can't Happen Here
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Doremus Jessup, a newspaper editor, is dismayed to find that many of the people he knows support presidential candidate Berzelius Windrip. The suspiciously fascist Windrip is offering to save the nation from sex, crime, welfare cheats, and a liberal press. But after Windrip wins the election, dissent soon becomes dangerous for Jessup. Windrip forcibly gains control of Congress and the Supreme Court and, with the aid of his personal paramilitary storm troopers, turns the United States into a totalitarian state.
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Meh
- By Michael Broks on 2020-07-27
Written by: Sinclair Lewis
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.
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- Daly Close
- 2020-01-30
Good content; terrible narrator
The content of this book is something I am very interested in, and this book is quite informative. Unfortunately, and to my surprise, I found this very boring. I'm not usually picky about narrators, but this one somehow managed to make very interesting content sound incredibly boring. You can tell that the narrator is very bored while reading. That boredom gradually rubbed off on me and made me feel bored. In turn, this made it hard to pay attention to the story. I tried my hardest to get through this book. But at about the one third mark, I gave up. I just wasn't retaining the information due to the drab way the book is read.
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- Roberta W
- 2023-06-01
Excellent content, terrible narration
What a disappointment! I was looking forward to this book because the content promised to answer so many questions I had, plus many more I hadn’t even thought of, but they couldn’t have picked a worse narrator. So monotone, I often fell asleep. More than once I thought about giving up and asking for a refund, but the content is unique and ultimately worth the slog.
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- Judy Lyoness
- 2022-11-06
Thorough and comprehensive documentary and commmentary
Judt has managed to reveal and explain European history since 1945 His monumental work should form a basis for any study of the latter half of the twentieth century. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to understand the state of Europe and Russian politics today.
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- History
- 2011-10-18
Great book, but not terrific listening
I thought this a really excellent analytical look at post-WWII European history. This isn't straight history, it is historical analysis. The author has a point of view and he isn't shy about sharing it.
That being said, it is way too long and complex for audio to be its best vehicle. Yes, you can listen to it, but no, it wouldn't be my first choice. Lacking access to an index or the ability to flip back and reread a section to establish a context for what the author is currently discussing, I couldn't get as much out of this as I would have liked.
Well written and competently read, there are obvious edits and issues with consistent recording levels that are unacceptable and should be fixed.
The narrator is good, not exceptional. It's definitely worth your time ... but read it in print too.
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71 people found this helpful
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- Mike From Mesa
- 2012-07-30
An intellectual's history
Having grown up in the period following the Second World War and having read a great deal about world events during this period I assumed that I knew most of what would be covered by this book but thought that a British view of European history might be both more interesting and more informed than what I had read previously and hence worth reading. I had no idea how little of what this book covers I actually knew.
I have read many history books covering Europe since the Napoleonic Wars and expected this book to be written in a similar way – an accent on political events, the effect of new weapons on policy and the impact of world leaders on the events in their respective nations as well as those around them. I was both disappointed and pleased to find that this book is a very different type of history. World shaping events, such as the fall of communism and the liberation of the Eastern European nations from the Soviet grip, were covered relatively quickly (the decade of the fall of communism’s power over Eastern Europe was covered in one chapter) while extensive coverage is given to the intellectual basis for and philosophies of the pro-communist and anti-American movements. While some of the wars of the period are covered (for example the British, French and Israeli war against Egypt and the war after the breakup of Yugoslavia) these type of events do not seem to be the main area of interest for Mr Judt.
Some examples of subjects covered by this book are the intellectual's blindness to Stalin’s terror, the large numbers of displaced persons left at the end of the Second World War and the resulting "ethnic cleansing" that took place with the cooperation of the Allies, the origins of and comparisons between the Social Democratic systems in Scandinavia, the spreading role of government in culture and the arts and the expanding role of European theaters and film. Mr Judt’s argument seems to be that these events and trends had much to do with the new shape that Europe was taking after the end of the war. I can only concur and think that the view of history that I had before reading this book was too narrow and simple.
This is a very opinionated book. Much of what is presented as fact seems to be largely opinion. One example would be Mr Judt’s snide references to those who doubted the ability of the southern European nations to control their expenses enough to properly qualify for entry to the Euro zone. He sneered at those concerns and spoke of the financial probity of these nations, but we know now, of course, that he was completely wrong. It was not his being wrong that bothered me but rather his sneering reference to those who turned out to be right. Another example is his off-hand dismissal of Margaret Thatcher and her views with no facts presented to buttress his statements.
Another thing to keep in mind is that this book was written by a British author and so the book contains a large number of British terms with which the reader may be unfamiliar. Examples are use of the world valve instead of tube, use of the phrase “put paid to”, the British value of thousand billion instead of trillion, the phrase "plastic macs" and so on. Another concern is the use of French, German and Italian phrases with no English translations with the view, I assume, that anyone intelligent enough to read this book would know the languages in question.
Still, in spite of all, I think this is a book well worth reading. The narration is first class and I would recommend it to those who would like to know more about the post war development of the modern Europe as explained by someone without a US world view.
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56 people found this helpful
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- Keith
- 2017-09-28
Ambitious and enlightening, but with drawbacks
The attempt to write a single volume history of postwar Europe seems almost foolish in its ambition, but Judt frames the parallel histories of so many nations, peoples, and political systems in a way that is surprisingly coherent. Yes, certain nations (namely France and England) receive more attention than others, but Judt primarily pursues a sense of collective European identity and values. This book is a good starting point for further reading to find the details and nuances that a single volume can't conceivably tackle. Judt objects to the idea of having one overriding thesis, but his numerous arguments come together to form an important critical perspective on the meaning of Europe and the values and shortcomings of history and public memory.
His three focal points are economic, political, and cultural history, with his attention and skill handling each coming in the same order. The shortcomings of the political history are largely a result of the project itself, with breakneck overviews (or sometimes no context) given for major figures, events, and institutions. The cultural history is underdeveloped and too often suffers from Judt's evaluative and bizarrely dismissive comments on everything from punk rock to David Beckham's abilities on the pitch. Judt fancies himself as a cinephile, but only explores the usual suspects of auteurist European cinema, failing to explore popular culture or reception anywhere aside from France and his native England as much more than a statistic.
Another major shortcoming of the book is Judt's unnecessarily stiff prose. His writing can be almost poetic at times, but those moments are few and far between when compared to the recurrence of words and phrases that distract in their formality. For example, his affinity for the word hitherto may be a result of his immersion in English translations of Marx, but as understandable as it is to adopt the language of your sources it doesn't make his liberal use of hitherto any easier on the eye (or ear, in this case).
The final major shortcoming is the way Judt chooses to frame events in Part 4 (1989-2005). Some of this has to do with the fact that the book is now over a decade old, so many of his conclusions have been complicated by events that have taken place since the book was published. You can't fault Judt for failing to predict the future, of course, but his decision to write about events in the 2000s with a declarative past tense, treating Tony Blair and George W. Bush like historical figures from a bygone era, make a number of his conclusions at the end of the book difficult to take seriously. These shortcomings aside, the book is compelling and thought provoking. Not a joyful, breezy listen, but worth the investment of time and intellectual energy.
The reader, Ralph Cosham, gets high marks from me. He largely handles pronunciations from non-English languages with confidence, especially French. There are a number of edited retakes spliced into the reading (sometimes distractingly so), where Cosham went back later to correct a mispronunciation. I'd prefer a change in tone and audio quality rather than have him butcher every name of Slavic origin, so cheers for caring enough to try to get it right. His pace is a bit slow, but that was corrected by playing at 1.25 speed.
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Overall

- Peregrine
- 2011-05-10
Yes it's long???deal with it.
Postwar brilliantly and effectively traces how Europe rose from the rubble and death of WWII to become an imperfect but well-functioning community today. The tone is hard-nosed but surprisingly positive and optimistic. Judt had a reputation for a left-wing viewpoint, but in this book he does not have any ax to grind. He is, however, especially hard on nations (especially France) that weaseled their way out of responsibility for the Holocaust.
Narrator Ralph Cosham is terrific, despite an overuse of a pause-and-raised-eyebrows intonation for Judt's numerous 'scare' quotes.
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- Rodney
- 2012-03-18
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.
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- Kindle Customer
- 2011-05-04
Sweeping, Impressive, Long
This was a great book summarizing history, politics and economy in Europe since 1945. At times more detail than you might care for on a particular subject, but well written and well narrated. I have given up on other audiobooks with similar level of detail, but enjoyed this one greatly. If you like Jared Diamond, you will like Tony Judt.
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9 people found this helpful
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- Edie Gormet
- 2012-09-23
Postwar,A History of Europe since 1945
Would you consider the audio edition of Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 to be better than the print version?
I can't say. I get all my books as audio books now, I commute 4-5 hours a day and it is the thing that makes the commute bearable. My husband is going to read the book. I can say that one advantage to having a paper copy is to make notes.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945?
There were numerous moments throughout the book that were memorable. I would also say that the overall message was riveting. I definitely believe this book should be required reading in High School and/or college. And, in assessing the status of today's world it would seem we have continued to set in motion a perpetuation of self destruction.
What do you think the narrator could have done better?
The narrators voice was often grating on my nerves and boring to listen to.
If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
War and Greed
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- Mary K. Bohm
- 2017-12-09
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.
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- Jeremy
- 2012-11-22
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.
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- John Burrus
- 2012-03-22
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.
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