Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945
Tony Judt begins in the physical rubble of 1945, with millions of displaced people, ruined cities, and shattered economies, and traces how Europe rebuilt itself into a continent of welfare states, market democracies, and, eventually, a European Union. Postwar moves fluently across politics, economics, culture, and memory, treating film, literature, and consumer life alongside the Cold War, decolonization, and the collapse of communism. Judt writes as an insider skeptical of every reigning story, and he refuses either triumphalist Western or nostalgic Eastern accounts. The book won or was shortlisted for most of the serious history prizes on publication and quickly became the standard modern history of Europe. It is the kind of single volume that reshapes how readers see a continent.
What you might want to know about Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Tony Judt's magisterial history of Europe from the ruins of 1945 to the early twenty first century, and the book that made him one of the great modern historians.
Yes. Coates has repeatedly named Postwar as one of the most important works of history he has read, citing Judt's approach to memory and empire as a model for his own thinking on America.
It is long and dense, but Judt's prose is unusually clear and vivid, and most readers find it more approachable than its size suggests.
Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 was written by Tony Judt, published in 2005 by Penguin Books.
Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 is 933 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 takes most readers 14 to 20 hours to finish.
Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
