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Can Europe Survive?: The Story of a Continent in a Fractured World
A bold new account of Europe’s plight as it faces political fracture, economic stagnation and external challenges from the U.S., China and Russia
Today, Europe finds itself in a fast-changing, polarised world dominated by Chinese-American rivalry. The European Union and its surrounding nonmember states, despite initial successes after the fall of the Berlin Wall, have failed to implement a strategy for success in the twenty-first century. Britain’s exit from the Union has weakened both sides, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has thrown these shortcomings into sharp relief. How should states across the continent position themselves in the decades to come?
Drawing on unpublished archives and interviews with over 150 leading figures, David Marsh investigates Europe’s present crisis, from the march of populism, Franco-German malaise, and the breakdown of relations with Putin’s Russia. Fault lines are emerging in the monetary union, while the fight against climate change has impacted growth. Facing its gravest test since the Second World War, Europe must find fresh reserves of resilience—and seek out renewed international partnerships to ensure success.
Today, Europe finds itself in a fast-changing, polarised world dominated by Chinese-American rivalry. The European Union and its surrounding nonmember states, despite initial successes after the fall of the Berlin Wall, have failed to implement a strategy for success in the twenty-first century. Britain’s exit from the Union has weakened both sides, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has thrown these shortcomings into sharp relief. How should states across the continent position themselves in the decades to come?
Drawing on unpublished archives and interviews with over 150 leading figures, David Marsh investigates Europe’s present crisis, from the march of populism, Franco-German malaise, and the breakdown of relations with Putin’s Russia. Fault lines are emerging in the monetary union, while the fight against climate change has impacted growth. Facing its gravest test since the Second World War, Europe must find fresh reserves of resilience—and seek out renewed international partnerships to ensure success.
528 pages, Hardcover
Published November 11, 2025
26 people are currently reading
288 people want to read
About the author
David Marsh
161 books7 followersProduction editor, The Guardian at Guardian News and Media (UK)
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 26, 2025
A scholarly analysis of the pressing policy questions facing the European project as we enter the second quarter of the 21st century. The book is so well researched that one is forced to forgive its historicist bent. Marsh has conducted dozens of interviews with the architects of Europe’s current policy landscape. These conversations, in combination with extensive archival research, give the reader an in-depth view of the mechanics of policymaking, the psychology of key policymakers, and the horse trading and gamesmanship of European negotiations.
December 24, 2025
Can Europe Survive is a book with a huge scope that largely looks back despite its title. There are many Europes to look at for the question it poses: continental Europe, the EU, the Eurozone, NATO, including Russia. It looks at all of these. The aftermath of the Soviet Union's collapse is a significant part of the book, posing the question of whether Gorbachev was too generous to the West and NATO, a question that is playing out now - a sort of repeat of Germany's treatment under the Treaty of Versailles, which led to a move to the right under Hitler.
If Gorbachev is one of the "villains" of the book, the other is Angela Merkel, whose presence in most of the chapters is considerable. Merkel comes under a lot of criticism for cosying up to Putin, and her energy policies in particular. Also, Germany's slow adaptation of new technology is going to really hurt it with China now so dominant.
Europe has largely stood still while America and China have risen, the latter enormously in recent decades compared to the "old world". Europe has the disadvantage of being made up of so many parts and has a constantly changing guard. Rivals like China, Russia, Turkey and India have had the same leaders for decades. The problems are endless: debt, demographics, and immigration. New technology has almost passed Europe by: European companies might consume it, but few of them make it.
The UK is mentioned little, although somewhat metaphorically, it has a chapter of its own near the end, which looks mostly at Brexit. Given the 300 pages looking at everything that has gone wrong in Europe that you've just read, it doesn't seem that bad to be out of the EU!
The book concludes on a (for it) fairly optimistic note. It's at the centre of our map, and the central time zone, but its various countries (inside and outside the EU and the Euro) will have to find a role or roles in a world dominated by the larger nations of Asia and America.
If Gorbachev is one of the "villains" of the book, the other is Angela Merkel, whose presence in most of the chapters is considerable. Merkel comes under a lot of criticism for cosying up to Putin, and her energy policies in particular. Also, Germany's slow adaptation of new technology is going to really hurt it with China now so dominant.
Europe has largely stood still while America and China have risen, the latter enormously in recent decades compared to the "old world". Europe has the disadvantage of being made up of so many parts and has a constantly changing guard. Rivals like China, Russia, Turkey and India have had the same leaders for decades. The problems are endless: debt, demographics, and immigration. New technology has almost passed Europe by: European companies might consume it, but few of them make it.
The UK is mentioned little, although somewhat metaphorically, it has a chapter of its own near the end, which looks mostly at Brexit. Given the 300 pages looking at everything that has gone wrong in Europe that you've just read, it doesn't seem that bad to be out of the EU!
The book concludes on a (for it) fairly optimistic note. It's at the centre of our map, and the central time zone, but its various countries (inside and outside the EU and the Euro) will have to find a role or roles in a world dominated by the larger nations of Asia and America.
January 10, 2026
Tremendously disappointing. I am a major fan of David Marsh and his previous works on the Bundesbank and Britain's exit from ERM in 1992, and came to this book expecting a detailed analysis of the position in which Europe currently finds itself. Instead, what I ended up getting was a book that merely rehashes political and economic developments in the 1990s to 2010s that have already been recounted elsewhere and better. It feels more like a bunch of quotes from interviews patched together that don't really add anything at all to the subject. Take for example a French official talking about the condescending behavior of his English nanny in the 1930s or countless pages of quotes deriding Boris Johnson's personal character? Is this really at all useful for forming an analysis of the subject of the book? It seems more that Marsh just wants to name drop who he was able to personally interview for the book than put together a cogent analysis.
The author also in many instances also contradicts himself completely. For example, the author makes copious references to perceived American "arrogance" to Russia in the 1990s being the source of Russia's current aggressive behavior (notably ignoring any instances of generosity towards Russia by the Americans in the 1990s) and argues that if the US had deployed troops inside of Ukraine in winter 2021 the present war could have been avoided. This makes no sense!
Another major flaw in the work is the failure to adequately address the issue of mass migration. Not one chapter or section of the book is dedicated to the subject. All we get is a few sentences saying that mass migration is a "short-term" issue. This is perhaps the most gaping whole in the book's analysis.
Please do not pay over $30 for such a mediocre and incomplete book!
The author also in many instances also contradicts himself completely. For example, the author makes copious references to perceived American "arrogance" to Russia in the 1990s being the source of Russia's current aggressive behavior (notably ignoring any instances of generosity towards Russia by the Americans in the 1990s) and argues that if the US had deployed troops inside of Ukraine in winter 2021 the present war could have been avoided. This makes no sense!
Another major flaw in the work is the failure to adequately address the issue of mass migration. Not one chapter or section of the book is dedicated to the subject. All we get is a few sentences saying that mass migration is a "short-term" issue. This is perhaps the most gaping whole in the book's analysis.
Please do not pay over $30 for such a mediocre and incomplete book!
January 26, 2026
A dense read and not always an easy one, but it does a good job digging into key historical milestones of the EU and using them to build broader conclusions about Europe today. It definitely helped me widen my perspective on current events. Very timely, and worth the effort.
Ps… I am an European reader 🤓
Ps… I am an European reader 🤓
February 7, 2026
Vissa insikter men överlag väldigt pratig. Mer deskriptiv än analytisk.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews