Homelands: A Personal History of Europe
Timothy Garton Ash
(Author)
Description
Drawing on half a century of firsthand experience and exemplary scholarship, Timothy Garton Ash tells the story of postwar Europe's triumphs and tragedies "This is not a potted history of the European Union--still less of Britain's tortuous relationships with it. Instead, the book casts a panoramic eye over a far-flung continent of 850 million people, and heeds the word on the street in Pristina as much as in Paris. . . . [A] fair-minded but warm-hearted book."--Boyd Tonkin, Financial Times "Is Europe a real entity or a mere wishful-thinking construct? This closely observed book explores both possibilities."--Kirkus Reviews Timothy Garton Ash, Europe's "historian of the present," has been "breathing Europe" for the last half century. In Homelands he embarks on a journey in time and space around the postwar continent, drawing on his own notes from many great events, giving vivid firsthand accounts of its leading actors, revisiting the places where its history was made, and recalling its triumphs and tragedies through their imprint on the present. Garton Ash offers an account of events as seen from the ground--history illustrated by memoir. He describes how Europe emerged from wartime devastation to rebuild, to triumph with the fall of the Berlin Wall, to democratize and unite. And then to falter. It is a singular history of a period of unprecedented progress along with a clear-eyed account of how so much went wrong, from the financial crisis of 2008 to the war in Ukraine. From the pen of someone who, in spite of Brexit, emphatically describes himself as an English European, this is both a tour d'horizon and a tour de force.Product Details
Price
$28.00
$26.04
Publisher
Yale University Press
Publish Date
May 23, 2023
Pages
384
Dimensions
6.06 X 9.29 X 1.26 inches | 1.5 pounds
Language
English
Type
Hardcover
EAN/UPC
9780300257076
Earn by promoting books
Earn money by sharing your favorite books through our Affiliate program.
Become an affiliate
About the Author
Timothy Garton Ash is professor of European studies at the University of Oxford and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. His books include The Magic Lantern, his eyewitness account of the revolutions of 1989; The File: A Personal History, based on reading his own Stasi file; and History of the Present. He lives in Oxford, England.
Reviews
"From the 'miracle' of 1989 to the return of state thuggery, readers could hardly wish for a wiser guide to the continent's triumphs and travails."--Financial Times "Is Europe a real entity or a mere wishful-thinking construct? This closely observed book explores both possibilities."--Kirkus Reviews "We know there are Germans, Italians, Spaniards and Poles--but are there Europeans? Yes, at least one: Timothy Garton Ash. Homelands is the brilliant, captivating story of how he became one."--Mark Lilla, author of The Once and Future Liberal "Garton Ash deftly combines scholarship, journalistic experience, and personal observations and stories in Homelands. He offers an intellectual's history with a popular touch that is both delightful and thought-provoking."--Robert B. Zoellick, author of America in the World: A History of U.S. Diplomacy and Foreign Policy "Garton Ash has carved out a unique niche as a 'historian of the present.' Homelands combines his eye-witness account of Europe's evolution with his keen historical insight to offer an innovative and compelling book."--Charles A. Kupchan, author of Isolationism "The right book for Europe, at the right time. For a continent fascinated with its past, and yet indispensable for everyone's future, this mix of memoir and reflection is the perfect book for the present. In beautiful language, Garton Ash gives us a sense of the Europe that was, and of one that might yet be."--Timothy Snyder, author of The Road to Unfreedom "A moving love letter to Europe, Homelands merges memoir, political analysis and social criticism to reflect on the future of a continent still haunted by its past. Friend of dissidents in former communist Europe, first-hand witness of high politics in the West, Garton Ash is unafraid to think about what the European project got wrong but also how it can redeem itself."--Lea Ypi, author of Free "This book, from a man who had a front-row seat to much of the history he describes, draws on his experiences and those of his friends to bring events to vivid life."--M. E. Sarotte, author of Not One Inch
