Status
Available
Collection
Publication
Vintage (2008)
Description
Journalist Mak spent the year of 1999 criss-crossing the continent, tracing the history of Europe from Verdun to Berlin, Saint Petersburg to Auschwitz, Kiev to Srebrenica. He set off in search of evidence and witnesses, looking to define the condition of Europe at the verge of a new millennium. In the voices of prominent figures and unknown players, Mak combines the larger story of twentieth-century Europe with details that give it a face, a taste and a smell. His unique approach makes the reader an eyewitness to a half-forgotten past, full of unknown peculiarities, sudden insights and touching encounters. This book reads like an epic novel of Europe's most extraordinary century.--From publisher description.
Media reviews
"What books are on your beside table? [...] Geert Mak’s In Europe, which I keep rereading. It’s unparalleled in its detail and history."
User reviews
LibraryThing member RidgewayGirl
This is an awe-inspiring book. The author spent 1999 traveling around Europe looking to understand and tell its common history. What does someone from Stockholm have in common with someone from rural Poland, or the coast of Portugal? Beginning in Amsterdam at the dawn of the twentieth century, and
Mak travels from place to place, centering each chapter on both a location and an event from the twentieth century. He talks to and looks at both ordinary people and those at the center of great events. He looks at how an event is both influenced by what had happened before and how it, in turn, shapes what occurs later. He looks at those obvious pivotal moments, like those fatal shots fired by Gavrilo Princip on the quayside in Sarajevo, as well as more obscure things like what happened to Jean McConville of West Belfast. The great moments are made personal by telling the story of someone caught up in it all, whether the son of a former ruler or a young mother trying to keep her family safe.
I had to read this book slowly. It is thick with connections and how the hurried decisions of a government can affect the lives of ordinary people forever. It was also an emotionally wrenching book. I'm not sure how he did it, but Mak managed to make both troop movements and strategical decisions intertwine with how that would have been experienced by an ordinary soldier or a civilian watching his house burn.
Geert Mak is Dutch, and so a little removed from the patriotic tales woven into the lives of the citizens of great powers. He was able to look at one side of a conflict then drive on a few miles and look at that conflict from the other side. He doesn't look to find bad guys or good guys, but to find out why people acted as they did, on imperfect information influenced by their own histories.
I'm a little sorry I've finally finished On Europe, but I'm looking forward to deepening my understanding of Europe's last century as well as someday rereading this book.
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winding up in December of 1999 in Sarajevo, Mak draws together the disparate threads of each country's history, into a broad picture of what has made Europe what it is today. I loved this massive book. It pulled together all those bits and pieces I've acquired through the years, from classes, newspapers, articles and books, and showed me where they belongs in the bigger picture. Mak travels from place to place, centering each chapter on both a location and an event from the twentieth century. He talks to and looks at both ordinary people and those at the center of great events. He looks at how an event is both influenced by what had happened before and how it, in turn, shapes what occurs later. He looks at those obvious pivotal moments, like those fatal shots fired by Gavrilo Princip on the quayside in Sarajevo, as well as more obscure things like what happened to Jean McConville of West Belfast. The great moments are made personal by telling the story of someone caught up in it all, whether the son of a former ruler or a young mother trying to keep her family safe.
I had to read this book slowly. It is thick with connections and how the hurried decisions of a government can affect the lives of ordinary people forever. It was also an emotionally wrenching book. I'm not sure how he did it, but Mak managed to make both troop movements and strategical decisions intertwine with how that would have been experienced by an ordinary soldier or a civilian watching his house burn.
Geert Mak is Dutch, and so a little removed from the patriotic tales woven into the lives of the citizens of great powers. He was able to look at one side of a conflict then drive on a few miles and look at that conflict from the other side. He doesn't look to find bad guys or good guys, but to find out why people acted as they did, on imperfect information influenced by their own histories.
I'm a little sorry I've finally finished On Europe, but I'm looking forward to deepening my understanding of Europe's last century as well as someday rereading this book.
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LibraryThing member jcbrunner
Dutch journalist Geert Mak has undertaken a year-long journey to the hot spots of 20th century European history. He has compiled his newspaper reports into a compelling narrative combining three of my loves: Europe, history and travel. He follows a classic power and politics approach. He goes where
Mak mixes narrative parts with interviews with the low and mighty as well as his personal travel impressions and chance encounters. Having traveled to many of the places mentioned, most of his remarks are spot on. Naturally, I don't concur in his snide remark about having seen only one beautiful woman in Vienna (which happens to be an immigrant worker! for an extra sting). His selection bias might be explained by first seeing the stunning beauties of Eastern Europe who outshine their less beautiful sisters (the sturdy Olgas) in their own country. As this example shows, he mixes thrilling city and country portraits out of ingredients from different spheres, commenting on art, architecture, literature, music.
The book is divided into twelve monthly chapters. Europe's bloody history in the first half of the 20th century is reflected in Mak's devoting 8 of the 12 chapters. The post-WWII chapters are the weakest of the book (still strong overall), as the weak common thread of European action cannot stand up to the vast local differences and the events overseas. The bloody events did not happen in Europe but overseas. The downfall of the Soviet Union and the collapse of Yugoslavia help Mak to a conclusion in crescendo. Highly recommended, especially to those who have traveled around Europe. The bibliography in itself is worth the price of the book, a choice selection of classic works about Europe.
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the forces clash, the blood flows and the masses roar. Quieter events such as the independence of Norway and many social, institutional and technological changes receive no or barely a mention. Given the door-stopper size of the volume, this probably has to be inevitable. I would be extremely interested in reading partner volumes following the artistic, technological or the social changes.Mak mixes narrative parts with interviews with the low and mighty as well as his personal travel impressions and chance encounters. Having traveled to many of the places mentioned, most of his remarks are spot on. Naturally, I don't concur in his snide remark about having seen only one beautiful woman in Vienna (which happens to be an immigrant worker! for an extra sting). His selection bias might be explained by first seeing the stunning beauties of Eastern Europe who outshine their less beautiful sisters (the sturdy Olgas) in their own country. As this example shows, he mixes thrilling city and country portraits out of ingredients from different spheres, commenting on art, architecture, literature, music.
The book is divided into twelve monthly chapters. Europe's bloody history in the first half of the 20th century is reflected in Mak's devoting 8 of the 12 chapters. The post-WWII chapters are the weakest of the book (still strong overall), as the weak common thread of European action cannot stand up to the vast local differences and the events overseas. The bloody events did not happen in Europe but overseas. The downfall of the Soviet Union and the collapse of Yugoslavia help Mak to a conclusion in crescendo. Highly recommended, especially to those who have traveled around Europe. The bibliography in itself is worth the price of the book, a choice selection of classic works about Europe.
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LibraryThing member MeditationesMartini
Could this be the most superior bus/flight/beach book ever? Certainly for bumming around Europe the way I appear to be doing this year. Mak has an amazing journalistic feel for slashing out a sketch with the pithiest details and uncovering the symbolic gems in a mountain of trivia. It doesn't
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necessarily break new ground or add up to much, but it sure reminds you that the Nazis were bad dudes and that Europe had an intense and awful 20th century. Show Less
LibraryThing member petterw
A lifechanging - at the least an opinion changing - book. What an accomplishment this book is. It tells the story of modern Europe, and connects the dots to create a whole for the reader. It is a real story told with passion, a story that shocks and explains and revolts and touches you in a way
And although it takes forever to read, it is a book you never want to end.
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that most novels never succeed to do. The fact that the story is told by a Dutch writer gives it an angle that a similar French, German, English, American book never would have accomplished. If there ever was a balanced historybook of 20th Century Europe this is it.And although it takes forever to read, it is a book you never want to end.
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LibraryThing member nemoman
This book is a history of Europe in the twentieth century written as a travelogue that intermingles oral history with personal experiences and contemporary contrasts. It reminds me of Walter Cronkite's Twentieth Century television series written in book form. Written by a European, it lends a
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different perspective to many of the historic events. Although a long book (over 800 pages), my interest never flagged. The wrting is superb, a credit to both Mak and his translator. I now want to read Mak's other works. Show Less
LibraryThing member OpheliaAwakens
Once I picked up the book I was hooked. I'm usually not that interested in non-fiction books but this one doesn't read like a non-fiction book at all. The people he talks to and the stories he tells are very compelling. I learned a lot about some of the less well known portions of European history.
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I liked how he tried to use guide books appropriate to the time periods he was writing about. Show Less
LibraryThing member Gantois
This is a modern classic about Europe's 20th century. Recommended for everyone who wants to understand the old continent.
LibraryThing member JKoetsier
Brilliant book if you want to get a quick view of what happened in Europe, and how people experienced what happened!
LibraryThing member snash
Traveling throughout Europe in 1999, the author uses the various locations to spur a history of the 20th Century. The overwhelming sense is of careening from one massacre to the next horrific tragedy. It was all very well written and I found some insights fascinating but the litany of disasters
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over 800 pages wore on me. Show Less
LibraryThing member wouterzzzzz
Well written history of Europe in the 20th century. Although it sometimes feels like reading a novel, it really is Europe's history, which means you'll be presented with a lot of names, locations, and events. I found it one of the best written history books, and it helps you to better understand
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the current "state" of Europe. Show Less
LibraryThing member RobertDay
This is a major work of history masquerading as journalism and travel writing. Mak took a year to travel around Europe, following up the key events of the Twentieth Century, and often spoke to people who were either directly involved, or whose perspective gave them direct access to the times,
This approach is fresh and immediate, though reading the book in 2012 does rather make one aware that it is itself already a work of history. When Mak writes fairly positively about the birth of the Euro, for example, it's hard not to allow oneself a wry smile at what his future held in store.
To a British reader, perhaps the major strength of this book is the sense of "otherness" that comes from it not taking an Anglo-American perspective on events. The first person reportage drives home the fact that Britain is (politically, at least) "in" Europe, but does not feel itself to be "of" Europe. Mak's Dutch perspective is valuable and refreshing here. This book gives the ordinary reader a very clear view of what lies behind the European project, and it is clear that Mak feels European unity and peace to be the important outcomes of the historical process that unfolds before our eyes.
At the end of the book, Mak writes at length about the disintegration of Yugoslavia. His analysis is particularly telling on the role of the Dutch UN peacekeeping troops in Srebrenica; some US and British readers might be a bit surprised at the reaction of the French UN commanders and their assessment of how they might have behaved under those circumstances. Again, this may say more about the narrowness of the mid-Atlantic view of Europe and its people than the French attitudes towards themseves.
The book ends with some conclusions about the future direction of Europe, with the differing perspectives and objectives of the original member states of the EEC compared to the more recent accession states (mainly those from Eastern Europe). Again, from the point of view of ten years on, Mak's conclusion - that of the likelihood of a twin-track, twin-speed Europe - looks more likely. Perhaps this knowledge of the final objective of the European project has been commonly held and known throughout Europe all this time, and the British never had anyone admit it in plain words of one syllable before. If that be so, then this book is even more important that it at first might seem for Anglophone readers.
The translation is pretty much flawless; proof-reading and sub-editing less so.
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personalities and places involved.This approach is fresh and immediate, though reading the book in 2012 does rather make one aware that it is itself already a work of history. When Mak writes fairly positively about the birth of the Euro, for example, it's hard not to allow oneself a wry smile at what his future held in store.
To a British reader, perhaps the major strength of this book is the sense of "otherness" that comes from it not taking an Anglo-American perspective on events. The first person reportage drives home the fact that Britain is (politically, at least) "in" Europe, but does not feel itself to be "of" Europe. Mak's Dutch perspective is valuable and refreshing here. This book gives the ordinary reader a very clear view of what lies behind the European project, and it is clear that Mak feels European unity and peace to be the important outcomes of the historical process that unfolds before our eyes.
At the end of the book, Mak writes at length about the disintegration of Yugoslavia. His analysis is particularly telling on the role of the Dutch UN peacekeeping troops in Srebrenica; some US and British readers might be a bit surprised at the reaction of the French UN commanders and their assessment of how they might have behaved under those circumstances. Again, this may say more about the narrowness of the mid-Atlantic view of Europe and its people than the French attitudes towards themseves.
The book ends with some conclusions about the future direction of Europe, with the differing perspectives and objectives of the original member states of the EEC compared to the more recent accession states (mainly those from Eastern Europe). Again, from the point of view of ten years on, Mak's conclusion - that of the likelihood of a twin-track, twin-speed Europe - looks more likely. Perhaps this knowledge of the final objective of the European project has been commonly held and known throughout Europe all this time, and the British never had anyone admit it in plain words of one syllable before. If that be so, then this book is even more important that it at first might seem for Anglophone readers.
The translation is pretty much flawless; proof-reading and sub-editing less so.
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LibraryThing member Steve38
A good if overlong book. A well delivered millenial journalist project. Geert Mak, a Dutch journalist and historian, had the idea of touring Europe in the run up to the year 2000 to review the continent's century. He has produced something that is not quite history and not quite journalism but
Mr Mak does well to bring history to life by focusing on the personal but at the end and again in typical journalistic fashion he is too keen to interpret today's events as the precursor to tomorrow's history. He fails to put things into the longer context by his concentration on the present.
The book was written at the turn of the century with a short epilogue in a new edition for 2006. At the time he, like a lot of people, saw only the success of the EU and the introduction of the euro. He foresaw problems in taking the European project further but he did not anticipate the financial crisis and with it the renewed potential for the old European fault lines to reappear.
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worthwhile nevertheless. He visits cities and towns in which major elements of Europe's twentieth century history were shaped. The two world wars, the great slump of the 30's, the rise of the European Union and the collapse of the Soviet Union and its Eastern European bloc are all covered. He doesn't attempt to tell us anything new but in typical journalist fashion does his best to personalise events by talking to people he meets whether old friends or new acquaintances. Interesting for me, a UK resident, to see European history through the eyes of a Dutchman and surprising to find that it is much as I had expected.Mr Mak does well to bring history to life by focusing on the personal but at the end and again in typical journalistic fashion he is too keen to interpret today's events as the precursor to tomorrow's history. He fails to put things into the longer context by his concentration on the present.
The book was written at the turn of the century with a short epilogue in a new edition for 2006. At the time he, like a lot of people, saw only the success of the EU and the introduction of the euro. He foresaw problems in taking the European project further but he did not anticipate the financial crisis and with it the renewed potential for the old European fault lines to reappear.
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LibraryThing member thorold
Stylish, intelligent, thoughtful, cleverly organised, and eminently readable. In 800 pages, even though he's mostly going over very familiar ground, he never stops being interesting and engaging: the mix of travel and history works very well.
On the other hand, this is an unremittingly negative,
On the other hand, this is an unremittingly negative,
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pessimistic view of European history in the 20th century. Basically, the bad stuff gets 797 pages and the positive 3. And even there he is inclined to quibble whether they really count as positive things. It's an understandable approach: after all, we Europeans have done a lot of unspeakable things to each other in the course of the century (Mak doesn't even discuss the terrible things Europeans did to people outside Europe). In a book like this, you have to deal with war, genocide, deportation and all the rest. But I wonder if it's really necessary to deal with it to the exclusion of all else? Show Less
LibraryThing member hste2011
Recommended for everybody interested in Europe
LibraryThing member danlai
The personal anecdotes were beautiful. If individual lives are not what history truly is about, then I don't know what history is.
LibraryThing member soylentgreen23
Mak travels around Europe on the cusp of the twenty-first century, reporting a century's worth of history. A fine piece of travel writing matched to an even better set of historical essays.
Subjects
Awards
Booklist Editor's Choice: Adult Books (History — 2007)
Language
Original language
English