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In Europe: Travels Through the Twentieth Century
From the First World War to the waning days of the Cold War, a poignant exploration on what it means to be European at the end of the twentieth-century. Geert Mak crisscrosses Europe from Verdun to Berlin, SaintPetersburg to Srebrenica in search of evidence and witnesses of the last hundred years of Europe. Using his skills as an acclaimed journalist, Mak locates the smaller, personal stories within the epic arc ofhistory-talking to a former ticket-taker at the gates of the Birkenau concentration camp or noting the neat rows of tiny shoes in the abandoned nursery school in the shadow of Chernobyl. His unique approach makes thereader an eyewitness to a half-forgotten past, full of unknown peculiarities, sudden insights and touching encounters. Sweeping in scale, but intimate in detail "In Europe" is amasterpiece. "From the Trade Paperback edition."
752 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
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About the author
Geert Mak
63 books383 followersDutch historian mostly known for his documentary series 'In Europa' (In Europe) and book of the same name. Nowadays he gives lectures about the Netherlands in the USA.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 359 reviews
December 17, 2015
It's been about two weeks since I finished the book and I wanted to add a couple of thoughts to the review, because I feel like such a work deserves more praise than I managed in the original lines.
The thing that I want to start out with is the depth in which Mak has gone in order to produce this. It is unbelievable, I kid you not, the sheer quantity of information that you get from these 800 pages. Don't get me wrong, I've read heftier books, but this one is a class beyond everything out there. Not only do you get a spectacular narrative, which is in and by itself very hard to encounter nowadays, but I bet if you listed out all the trivia in this book, it would take you months to finish it. How in the world did the author manage to comprise so much knowledge into such a "succinct" piece of work is a question that I'll probably keep asking for years. I'm sure one day I'll get back to this book and still be amazed by it.
Another thing is the ability of the writer to describe people. Now, whenever you read history books, individuals tend to blend together, as the story focuses on the general current, or the mentality, or just as we know it, the "big picture". Mak seems to do very well in writing about the "little picture". Page after page, it's not only the countries you hear about, not only the economic status, the political relations, the international scheme, not only facts, numbers and statistics (even though, trust me, you get a lot of them as well), but the spotlight seems rather to be taken by villagers, cab drivers, brothel keepers, children with flowers in their hair, pub crawlers, night owls, heroes, anti-heroes, anyone and everyone that was emblematic enough to be inserted in the drama. There's an underlying human voice that tells the story of the 20th century, and I very, very much enjoyed that. For a lot of us out there, history can never be detached from the people who were a part of it, and Mak spectacularly delivered in that field.
As far as history books go, this one is an absolute gem. I doubt there is another one like it, out there. I doubt there will ever be one to resemble it, either, because of its perfect timing. Written at the end of the 20th century, this work takes the reader through all of Europe's history since the 1900s. The turn of phrase is bewitching, the historical information abundant and the stories - of peoples, of places, of humans, of countries, of peace, of war, of love, of hate - beautifully intertwined to present a masterpiece of a painting of Europe.
For me, it has been a thrilling read, and I think that it will be for any history geek out there.
The thing that I want to start out with is the depth in which Mak has gone in order to produce this. It is unbelievable, I kid you not, the sheer quantity of information that you get from these 800 pages. Don't get me wrong, I've read heftier books, but this one is a class beyond everything out there. Not only do you get a spectacular narrative, which is in and by itself very hard to encounter nowadays, but I bet if you listed out all the trivia in this book, it would take you months to finish it. How in the world did the author manage to comprise so much knowledge into such a "succinct" piece of work is a question that I'll probably keep asking for years. I'm sure one day I'll get back to this book and still be amazed by it.
Another thing is the ability of the writer to describe people. Now, whenever you read history books, individuals tend to blend together, as the story focuses on the general current, or the mentality, or just as we know it, the "big picture". Mak seems to do very well in writing about the "little picture". Page after page, it's not only the countries you hear about, not only the economic status, the political relations, the international scheme, not only facts, numbers and statistics (even though, trust me, you get a lot of them as well), but the spotlight seems rather to be taken by villagers, cab drivers, brothel keepers, children with flowers in their hair, pub crawlers, night owls, heroes, anti-heroes, anyone and everyone that was emblematic enough to be inserted in the drama. There's an underlying human voice that tells the story of the 20th century, and I very, very much enjoyed that. For a lot of us out there, history can never be detached from the people who were a part of it, and Mak spectacularly delivered in that field.
As far as history books go, this one is an absolute gem. I doubt there is another one like it, out there. I doubt there will ever be one to resemble it, either, because of its perfect timing. Written at the end of the 20th century, this work takes the reader through all of Europe's history since the 1900s. The turn of phrase is bewitching, the historical information abundant and the stories - of peoples, of places, of humans, of countries, of peace, of war, of love, of hate - beautifully intertwined to present a masterpiece of a painting of Europe.
For me, it has been a thrilling read, and I think that it will be for any history geek out there.
July 30, 2022
Wat een immens werk is dit en wat een research moet dat zijn geweest! We hebben bijna 40 uur geluisterd. Het enige jammere is dat het maar tot 1999 gaat, inmiddels is er alweer zoveel veranderd. Geert Mak heeft daar in een volgend boek weer aandacht aan besteed.
What immense work this is and what research it must have been! We listened for almost 40 hours. The only pity is that it only goes until 1999, by now so much has changed. Geert Mak has devoted attention to this in a subsequent book.
What immense work this is and what research it must have been! We listened for almost 40 hours. The only pity is that it only goes until 1999, by now so much has changed. Geert Mak has devoted attention to this in a subsequent book.
October 27, 2022
I can only echo the many superlatives that are expressed in the reviews: it's a great overview of the 20th century in Europe, handsomely told through travelogues. I noticed a few historical errors and dated views, but I certainly do not want to undervalue the merit of this book. In my opinion the strongest chapter was on the second world war. In the chapters starting with the 1950's the tempo was a bit too high and the stories Geert Mak relates inevitably became more personal and subjective.
May 28, 2008
Ok, many pages, but each one is worth its own time and together they will give you a sympathetic portrait of contemporary Europe, one with more than a few surprises. Especially good at reminding us of Stalin's fatal rule and the contemporary French and British confusions. An excellent section on the Spanish Civil War. Read, learn, savor.
Mak took a year to travel around Europe, and to survey its histories from 1900 to 1999. He determined his itinerary by events from certain periods: for example, the month of November had him in Berlin, Niesky, Gdansk, Moscow, and Chernobyl; the years of history surveyed, 1980-1989.
The book is well-informed but never overtly scholarly. It's an erudite companion over terrain visible and buried. A perfect guide.
Mak took a year to travel around Europe, and to survey its histories from 1900 to 1999. He determined his itinerary by events from certain periods: for example, the month of November had him in Berlin, Niesky, Gdansk, Moscow, and Chernobyl; the years of history surveyed, 1980-1989.
The book is well-informed but never overtly scholarly. It's an erudite companion over terrain visible and buried. A perfect guide.
April 14, 2015
It is an encyclopaedic project. To visit all the places having a historical importance in Europe during XXth century. With the meticulousness of a entomologist, he explores these places by testing here to find the truth.That starts joyfully in Paris with the World Fair of 1900. But already the festival is sad. All is place for the tragedy. Mak goes everywhere. He finds in Berlin, the place where Rathenau was assassinated. Rathenau was able to succeed. Without his death, no Hitler. The role of the chance in History.
And after WWII, Cold War...
It is the story of a kind of suicide, Why European people destroyed themselves. It is also the twilight of this culture. is it possible to make emerge a common conscience of this disaster? I acknowledge that I am skeptical.
This book has the same importance as those of Paxton and Furet
And after WWII, Cold War...
It is the story of a kind of suicide, Why European people destroyed themselves. It is also the twilight of this culture. is it possible to make emerge a common conscience of this disaster? I acknowledge that I am skeptical.
This book has the same importance as those of Paxton and Furet
July 17, 2020
Stavit ću kao pročitano iako nisam dovršila čitanje, ali trenutno nemam vremena čitati. Jako zanimljiv i koristan putopis kroz 20. stoljeće, ali prepun informacija, događaja i svega, puno previše za oblik knjige. Kao kolumna, kako sam shvatila da je bilo objavljivano, čini mi se da puno bolje funkcionira, čitanje malo po malo. Ovako me već i zamorilo, unatoč početnoj oduševljenosti. Usudila bih se reći da ni redosljed čitanja nije obavezan, ali očekujte više povijesnog dijela nego putopisnog. Preporučujem čitanje ove knjige, a ja ću se jednom opet vratiti knjizi (sreća da je posjedujem).
December 10, 2024
35th book for 2024.
I started this book in March and only finished it in December. It's a remarkably dense chronological history of Europe between 1900-1999, written by the Dutch historian Geert Mak, who travelled across Europe at the turn of the century, visiting places that were of particularly interest at a particular historical moment. Much of the book is written as a travelogue of places visited—so you are presented both with a journalistic impression of a place at the time of writing (1999) and the historical moment being discussed. Linking the two time periods are often oral interviews by Mak of people who were present at both time periods—so we have fascinating extended interviews with people who survived the battle for Stalingrad or the siege of Saravajo or were instrumental in the creation of European Eonomic Union.
Well worth a read.
5-stars.
I started this book in March and only finished it in December. It's a remarkably dense chronological history of Europe between 1900-1999, written by the Dutch historian Geert Mak, who travelled across Europe at the turn of the century, visiting places that were of particularly interest at a particular historical moment. Much of the book is written as a travelogue of places visited—so you are presented both with a journalistic impression of a place at the time of writing (1999) and the historical moment being discussed. Linking the two time periods are often oral interviews by Mak of people who were present at both time periods—so we have fascinating extended interviews with people who survived the battle for Stalingrad or the siege of Saravajo or were instrumental in the creation of European Eonomic Union.
Well worth a read.
5-stars.
June 10, 2020
'In Europe' was recommended to me by Tony Judt's Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945, which it is an excellent complement to. I borrowed it a while before lockdown, but it has taken this long for my brain to stop skittering just about sufficiently for 800-page non-fiction to become manageable. I definitely would not describe this as a pleasant distraction from lockdown and the pandemic, however. The opposite, if anything, as it led me to consider how the history of the 21st century in Europe will be told. Books will doubtless be written examining how the pandemic played out across Europe, including analysis of how the UK ended up with such an appalling death toll. (I already have tentative theories. If you've ever read my non-fiction reviews, it will not surprise you to learn that they centre upon neoliberalism and austerity. The evisceration of social care and the NHS, worsening inequality, cascading failures of political accountability, and loss of public trust in politicians and institutions, coupled with the more immediate and appalling irresponsibility of our hideously incompetent current government. Don't fucking get me started.) There is perhaps some cold comfort in the knowledge that by 1920 the 20th century had already proved more cataclysmic than the 21st has been thus far, comparing the First World War and Spanish Flu pandemic with the War on Terror and COVID-19. This is just the beginning of our 21st century pandemic, though.
The format of 'In Europe' combines travelogue, narrative history, and personal testimony. The author travelled across cities from Moscow to Lisbon and Sarajevo to Keffalonia during 1999, locating major events of the 20th century and observing their legacy at its end. Understandably, the book is thus dominated by the two world wars, particularly the second. Mak is a fluid, eloquent writer who stitches together a remarkable amount of material into an extremely involving and wide-ranging continental narrative. The only notable flaw is frequent, low level sexism that proved somewhat tiresome. All women mentioned were either beautiful or he could tell they had been when younger. I've read a lot of books written by men, though, so am fairly inured to that sort of thing. The only occasion it really bothered me was this on the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto uprising: 'An impressive number of women took part: approximately a third of the membership of the resistance groups consisted of girls and young women. Almost all of them were in love.'
Such patronising comments aside, I found Mak's accounts of the atrocities and disasters that wracked Europe humane, thoughtful, and moving. He also manages to clearly explain complex political situations without losing nuance, no mean feat. The chapters covering the Spanish Civil War are an excellent example of this, as they summarise the complicated myriad of groups fighting in the civil war as well as the wider international consequences. The vividness of events are also brought to life by literary quotes and first person accounts, some from famous sources like Orwell and others gathered by Mak himself. When he was travelling Europe in 1999, even the First World War was still within living memory. Mak's interview material intermittently reminded me of Svetlana Alexievich's magnificent collections of personal testimonies, as he presents quite a few recollections without context as they speak powerfully for themselves. In 2020, the Second World War is passing from living memory, accelerated by a plague that is especially deadly to the elderly. I no longer have any living relatives from the Greatest Generation. The voices Mak recorded in 1999 are all the more important now.
There are many highlights in this book, I just didn't make a note of their page numbers. Many of the most memorable parts were horrifying, for example how the Catholic church failed to protest against the pre- war Nazi genocide of disabled people, Latvia's ethusiastic pre-emption of the Holocaust, and the British decision to bomb German civilians rather than industry in the final years of WWII. The comparisons between different manifestations of fascism across Europe were fascinating, as I previously knew nothing about Portugal's Salazar and little about Spain's Franco. I also appreciated the commentary on how De Gaulle essentially invented a new and glorious narrative of resistance for France, to replace the shame of surrender and moral failures of Vichy. Like Judt, Mak gives the East of Europe equal weight to the West and shows the USSR's patchwork legacy across Germany, Poland, Russia, and beyond. I hadn't thought of the mid-70s as a time of change before, but now see that it was: the Spanish, Greek, and Portuguese dictatorships all collapsed within a couple of years of each other. Also notable were Mak's observations of Europe's boundaries, the cities where people say, "I'm going to Europe."
The evolution of the European Union is bittersweet to read about now the UK has rudely and ignominiously flounced out:
The overwhelming impression is of Europe's wide expanse and diversity:
Although I find that somewhat reductive, it echoes Stefan Zweig in The World of Yesterday, which Mak references in early chapters. The quotes above are from the epilogue, which draws together the myriad of threads in the book together into a comment on Europe's future. It foresees disagreement and comments on rising neo-nationalism, while also marvelling at how peaceful the continent has been since 1945 in comparison to the previous millennium of war. At the very end, Mak sensibly caveats his conclusions thus:
We're definitely within the parentheses now.
My intrusive reflections on what Europe's 20th century can suggest about 2020 kept coming back to the many moments of crisis and catastrophe when established political realities suddenly collapsed into something new. Sometimes for worse, but sometimes for the better. Seeing the spread of the anti-racism movement at the moment gives me hope for positive change. In the UK, however, it's hard to avoid seeing in the last two decades a narrative of ongoing political, social, and economic collapse. I find it difficult to see how the UK can continue to exist as a single country under the combined strains of pandemic, Brexit, and each Conservative government proving less capable than the one before. It bothers me that I'm unlikely to remember very much of this book in the long term, as my mind is too scattered by immediate fears. 'In Europe' is full of thought-provoking and significant material, so deserves greater focus and consideration than I could manage.
The format of 'In Europe' combines travelogue, narrative history, and personal testimony. The author travelled across cities from Moscow to Lisbon and Sarajevo to Keffalonia during 1999, locating major events of the 20th century and observing their legacy at its end. Understandably, the book is thus dominated by the two world wars, particularly the second. Mak is a fluid, eloquent writer who stitches together a remarkable amount of material into an extremely involving and wide-ranging continental narrative. The only notable flaw is frequent, low level sexism that proved somewhat tiresome. All women mentioned were either beautiful or he could tell they had been when younger. I've read a lot of books written by men, though, so am fairly inured to that sort of thing. The only occasion it really bothered me was this on the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto uprising: 'An impressive number of women took part: approximately a third of the membership of the resistance groups consisted of girls and young women. Almost all of them were in love.'
Such patronising comments aside, I found Mak's accounts of the atrocities and disasters that wracked Europe humane, thoughtful, and moving. He also manages to clearly explain complex political situations without losing nuance, no mean feat. The chapters covering the Spanish Civil War are an excellent example of this, as they summarise the complicated myriad of groups fighting in the civil war as well as the wider international consequences. The vividness of events are also brought to life by literary quotes and first person accounts, some from famous sources like Orwell and others gathered by Mak himself. When he was travelling Europe in 1999, even the First World War was still within living memory. Mak's interview material intermittently reminded me of Svetlana Alexievich's magnificent collections of personal testimonies, as he presents quite a few recollections without context as they speak powerfully for themselves. In 2020, the Second World War is passing from living memory, accelerated by a plague that is especially deadly to the elderly. I no longer have any living relatives from the Greatest Generation. The voices Mak recorded in 1999 are all the more important now.
There are many highlights in this book, I just didn't make a note of their page numbers. Many of the most memorable parts were horrifying, for example how the Catholic church failed to protest against the pre- war Nazi genocide of disabled people, Latvia's ethusiastic pre-emption of the Holocaust, and the British decision to bomb German civilians rather than industry in the final years of WWII. The comparisons between different manifestations of fascism across Europe were fascinating, as I previously knew nothing about Portugal's Salazar and little about Spain's Franco. I also appreciated the commentary on how De Gaulle essentially invented a new and glorious narrative of resistance for France, to replace the shame of surrender and moral failures of Vichy. Like Judt, Mak gives the East of Europe equal weight to the West and shows the USSR's patchwork legacy across Germany, Poland, Russia, and beyond. I hadn't thought of the mid-70s as a time of change before, but now see that it was: the Spanish, Greek, and Portuguese dictatorships all collapsed within a couple of years of each other. Also notable were Mak's observations of Europe's boundaries, the cities where people say, "I'm going to Europe."
The evolution of the European Union is bittersweet to read about now the UK has rudely and ignominiously flounced out:
No-one foresaw the current EU. Who would have dared to predict in 1953 - the year in which Stalin died, in which George Marshall and Albert Schweitzer received the Nobel Prize for Peace, in which Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth II, the year in which the East Germans rebelled and the Dutch-Belgian border was the scene of a fierce manhunt for butter smugglers - who would have dared to predict that half a century later there would be an EU of twenty-seven members, with its own currency and its own parliament, a free space with largely open internal borders, that would stretch from Ireland by way of a united Germany to the very borders of chaotic Russia?
[...]
The tragic thing about Europe, as other observers have noted, has to do with the fact that those very measures needed to survive in the long term - the influx of young immigrants to reverse the demographic trend towards ageing, reorganisation of the welfare states to strengthen Europe's competitive position with regard to the other continents, open dealings with the Muslim world, good stewardship with regard to raw materials and the environment, the further strengthening and de-nationalisation of Europe's military forces - are, at the same time, often grist to the mill of paranoid populist movements.
The overwhelming impression is of Europe's wide expanse and diversity:
There is no European people. There is no single, all-embracing community of culture of tradition that binds together Jorwerd, Vásárosbéc, and Kefallonia; there are at least four of them: the Northern-Protestant, the Latin-Catholic, the Greek-Orthodox, and the Muslim-Ottoman. There is not a single language, but dozens of them. The Italians feel very differently about the word 'state' than do the Swedes. There are still no truly European political parties, and pan-European newspapers and television stations still lead a marginal existence. And, above all: in Europe there is very little in the way of shared historical experience.
Almost every country I travelled through myself, for example, had come up with its own account of the unimaginable explosion of violence between 1939 - 1945, its own myth to explain all that unbelievable madness, to justify wrongdoings, to bury humiliation and create new heroes.
[...]
I have often had the feeling that, despite our common heritage and our present-day contacts, Europe as it was in spring 1914 exhibited a greater cultural unity than it does today, more than ninety years later. Then, a worker in Warsaw led more or less the same life as a worker in Brussels, and the same went for a teacher in Berlin or in Prague, a shopkeeper in Budapest or in Amsterdam.
Although I find that somewhat reductive, it echoes Stefan Zweig in The World of Yesterday, which Mak references in early chapters. The quotes above are from the epilogue, which draws together the myriad of threads in the book together into a comment on Europe's future. It foresees disagreement and comments on rising neo-nationalism, while also marvelling at how peaceful the continent has been since 1945 in comparison to the previous millennium of war. At the very end, Mak sensibly caveats his conclusions thus:
(It remains entirely possible, of course, that factors such as climate change or major epidemics will once again overturn all these economic prognoses.)
We're definitely within the parentheses now.
My intrusive reflections on what Europe's 20th century can suggest about 2020 kept coming back to the many moments of crisis and catastrophe when established political realities suddenly collapsed into something new. Sometimes for worse, but sometimes for the better. Seeing the spread of the anti-racism movement at the moment gives me hope for positive change. In the UK, however, it's hard to avoid seeing in the last two decades a narrative of ongoing political, social, and economic collapse. I find it difficult to see how the UK can continue to exist as a single country under the combined strains of pandemic, Brexit, and each Conservative government proving less capable than the one before. It bothers me that I'm unlikely to remember very much of this book in the long term, as my mind is too scattered by immediate fears. 'In Europe' is full of thought-provoking and significant material, so deserves greater focus and consideration than I could manage.
July 13, 2022
3,5 Αρκετά ενδιαφέρον, αλλά με τυφλά σημεία. Σε όλο το βιβλίο είχα την αίσθηση ότι η ματιά του ήτανε η ματιά ενός Βορειοευρωπαίων. Στο τέλος βέβαια προσπάθησε να γίνει πιο αντικειμενικός, αλλά κακά τα ψέματα, όπως επισημαίνει και ο ίδιος η πλήρη αντικειμενικότητα είναι τελείως αδύνατη
Υγ: 2,5 Τελικά. Και γιατί; Γιατί ένα από τα πράγματα που κάνει είναι ότι υιοθετεί την προπαγάνδα το’χω των ναζί που είναι σχεδόν εκνευριστικό. Το θυμήθηκα σήμερα ακούγοντας Βουλή και θυμήθηκα Την ιστορία με το κάψιμο του Ράιχσταγκ στην οποία υιοθετεί πραγματικά υιοθετεί όλη την προπαγάνδα των ναζί. Είναι λες και του έλεγε ο Γκέμπελς τι να γράψει. Και γενικά είχες την αίσθηση σε όλο το βιβλίο πως σχεδόν λυπόταν τους κακομοίρηδες τους Γερμανούς τα πτωχά αυτά παιδιά τους άτυχους στρατιώτες που τους κατέστρεψαν όχι αρχηγοί τους, αλλά αυτή τους οποίους πήγα να κατακτήσουν.
Υγ: 2,5 Τελικά. Και γιατί; Γιατί ένα από τα πράγματα που κάνει είναι ότι υιοθετεί την προπαγάνδα το’χω των ναζί που είναι σχεδόν εκνευριστικό. Το θυμήθηκα σήμερα ακούγοντας Βουλή και θυμήθηκα Την ιστορία με το κάψιμο του Ράιχσταγκ στην οποία υιοθετεί πραγματικά υιοθετεί όλη την προπαγάνδα των ναζί. Είναι λες και του έλεγε ο Γκέμπελς τι να γράψει. Και γενικά είχες την αίσθηση σε όλο το βιβλίο πως σχεδόν λυπόταν τους κακομοίρηδες τους Γερμανούς τα πτωχά αυτά παιδιά τους άτυχους στρατιώτες που τους κατέστρεψαν όχι αρχηγοί τους, αλλά αυτή τους οποίους πήγα να κατακτήσουν.
January 26, 2018
From BBC Radio 4 - Book of the week:
The Dutch journalist Geert Mak travels through Europe at the close of the twentieth century reflecting on the history of the last 100 years and it's legacy. Nicholas Farrell reads.
Episode 2 of 5
It is 1999 and Geert Mak, the Dutch journalist, retraces the historic journey Lenin made in 1917 from Zurich to Petrograd by way of Stockholm and Helsinki.
Episode 3 of 5
Today, he takes in St Petersburg's faded grandeur and looks back to the moment in 1917 when Lenin first arrived in the city when it was called Petrograd.
Episode 4 of 5
Today, Mak takes in Kiev, Odessa and Istanbul where the past haunts the present, and he considers what it means to be a European.
Episode 5 of 5
Today, he meets a famous cosmonaut and looks at the fall out from the demise of the Soviet Union. To conclude Mak has written a new epilogue bringing his reflections on the continent up to date. Nicholas Farrell reads.
As the new millennium was about to dawn Geert Mak was commissioned by the newspaper he worked for to write a series of articles assessing the shape Europe was in and the legacy left behind by the twentieth century's turbulent history. Mak travelled back and forth all over the continent, painting a lively and engaging portrait of the places he visited and the people he encountered who shared their stories with him. Book of the Week begins with Mak setting off from Amsterdam for Paris where he finds the remnants of the spectacular World's Fair held there in 1900. Then he follows in the footsteps of Lenin as he made his fateful journey from Zurich to Petrograd, via Stockholm and Helsinki in 1917. He contrasts the Bolshevik leader's fiery politics with the more measured route taken by the Scandinavians. Then on to Odessa and Istanbul where traces of acceptance and tolerance are found amid the worst excesses of tyranny. Finally, to Moscow where he meets the Russian cosmonaut, Anatoli Artsybarski who recalls orbiting the Earth as the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991. A new piece by Geert Mak specially written for Book of the Week updates his reflections twenty years on.
Abridged by Rowan Routh
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09ntd0f
The Dutch journalist Geert Mak travels through Europe at the close of the twentieth century reflecting on the history of the last 100 years and it's legacy. Nicholas Farrell reads.
Episode 2 of 5
It is 1999 and Geert Mak, the Dutch journalist, retraces the historic journey Lenin made in 1917 from Zurich to Petrograd by way of Stockholm and Helsinki.
Episode 3 of 5
Today, he takes in St Petersburg's faded grandeur and looks back to the moment in 1917 when Lenin first arrived in the city when it was called Petrograd.
Episode 4 of 5
Today, Mak takes in Kiev, Odessa and Istanbul where the past haunts the present, and he considers what it means to be a European.
Episode 5 of 5
Today, he meets a famous cosmonaut and looks at the fall out from the demise of the Soviet Union. To conclude Mak has written a new epilogue bringing his reflections on the continent up to date. Nicholas Farrell reads.
As the new millennium was about to dawn Geert Mak was commissioned by the newspaper he worked for to write a series of articles assessing the shape Europe was in and the legacy left behind by the twentieth century's turbulent history. Mak travelled back and forth all over the continent, painting a lively and engaging portrait of the places he visited and the people he encountered who shared their stories with him. Book of the Week begins with Mak setting off from Amsterdam for Paris where he finds the remnants of the spectacular World's Fair held there in 1900. Then he follows in the footsteps of Lenin as he made his fateful journey from Zurich to Petrograd, via Stockholm and Helsinki in 1917. He contrasts the Bolshevik leader's fiery politics with the more measured route taken by the Scandinavians. Then on to Odessa and Istanbul where traces of acceptance and tolerance are found amid the worst excesses of tyranny. Finally, to Moscow where he meets the Russian cosmonaut, Anatoli Artsybarski who recalls orbiting the Earth as the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991. A new piece by Geert Mak specially written for Book of the Week updates his reflections twenty years on.
Abridged by Rowan Routh
Produced by Elizabeth Allard.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09ntd0f
October 12, 2022
Met ‘In Europa’ schreef Geert Mak een zeer ambitieus boek. Een wandeling door de geschiedenis van de twintigste eeuw in combinatie met plaatsen en momenten waarop dingen gebeurden. Hij bereisde vele landen en sprak met veel getuigen. Dat leverde indrukwekkend veel materiaal op, maar het boek is daardoor ook wel topzwaar geworden. Als je zo’n veelomvattende pretentie hebt, wordt je als lezer overdonderd, maar het is dan lastig om dingen vast te houden die echt belangrijk zijn. Bij de monografieën die Mak ook schreef zoals het boek over Jorwerd, lukte mij dat beter. Niettemin is het een bewonderenswaardige prestatie om zo’n project ter hand ten nemen. Ik denk dan niet alleen aan dat boek, maar ook aan de tv-programma’s die er op gebaseerd waren.
June 23, 2024
In Europe is one of the best books I've read in quite awhile, and I've been recommending it to everybody I know. Geert Mak, a Dutch journalist, spent most of 1999 traveling through Europe, tracing the major episodes of European history from 1900 to 1999. He opens his journey in the cities dominating the scene at the beginning of the century--Paris, London, Berlin, Vienna--interweaving his observations about those same cities in the present day. As the book proceeds to World War I, his travels take him to Ypres, Verdun, and Versailles. To examine the interwar period, he sets out for Stockholm, Helsinki, Riga, and so on, through the Spanish Civil War, World War II, the rebuilding after the war, the founding of the European Union, the Cold War, Chernobyl, the fall of the Wall, disintegration of the USSR, and the war in the Balkans.
Through his eyes and those of his interviewees, readers get a taste of Guernica on the day it was bombed by the Germans, set against itself at the end of the century, as Basque separatists consider how Europe's unification will help their status as a minority group inside Spain. In Budapest, people recall the pent-up energy that exploded in revolution, tempered by the concern that standards of living might have been better under the Soviet system. Sometimes the flash forward to the present day is comforting--Verdun and Ypres, now peaceful towns with huge cemeteries as the only reminders of what happened there--but more often than not it leads to unsettling but thought-provoking questions.
I know, it sounds like an overly ambitious project, trying to make sense of a whole chaotic century of European history in one book. But he carried it off brilliantly. Mak didn't mean to explain everything, everywhere, but he covered an impressive amount of ground in a methodical, intelligent manner. He writes with verve, economy, and a flair for storytelling. Often, he lets his interviewees tell the story in their own words, uninterrupted for pages. Beyond recounting the events, he asks thoughtful questions about what Europe really is and what it means. His epilogue should be published separately so everybody can read it--it's that good.
Mak sparked my interest in investigating many events and historical figures in greater depth. I was continually seeking out additional information about the subjects he discussed--not because he covered them poorly but because made them seem so fascinating that I wanted to learn more. I hunted down maps and bios online. I checked out library books and DVDs on Vichy France and the Resistance, the Spanish Civil War, the founding of the European Community, the Hungarian Revolution. I got so sucked in that I found myself hunting through Amazon for used copies of Jean Monnet's memoirs and the diaries of Victor Klemperer. I am not kidding. That is good storytelling! :) In fact, that may be the best testament to how good this book is: it's more than 800 pages, but I wanted even more. Whether you're preparing for a trip or content with some armchair travel, this book will not disappoint.
Through his eyes and those of his interviewees, readers get a taste of Guernica on the day it was bombed by the Germans, set against itself at the end of the century, as Basque separatists consider how Europe's unification will help their status as a minority group inside Spain. In Budapest, people recall the pent-up energy that exploded in revolution, tempered by the concern that standards of living might have been better under the Soviet system. Sometimes the flash forward to the present day is comforting--Verdun and Ypres, now peaceful towns with huge cemeteries as the only reminders of what happened there--but more often than not it leads to unsettling but thought-provoking questions.
I know, it sounds like an overly ambitious project, trying to make sense of a whole chaotic century of European history in one book. But he carried it off brilliantly. Mak didn't mean to explain everything, everywhere, but he covered an impressive amount of ground in a methodical, intelligent manner. He writes with verve, economy, and a flair for storytelling. Often, he lets his interviewees tell the story in their own words, uninterrupted for pages. Beyond recounting the events, he asks thoughtful questions about what Europe really is and what it means. His epilogue should be published separately so everybody can read it--it's that good.
Mak sparked my interest in investigating many events and historical figures in greater depth. I was continually seeking out additional information about the subjects he discussed--not because he covered them poorly but because made them seem so fascinating that I wanted to learn more. I hunted down maps and bios online. I checked out library books and DVDs on Vichy France and the Resistance, the Spanish Civil War, the founding of the European Community, the Hungarian Revolution. I got so sucked in that I found myself hunting through Amazon for used copies of Jean Monnet's memoirs and the diaries of Victor Klemperer. I am not kidding. That is good storytelling! :) In fact, that may be the best testament to how good this book is: it's more than 800 pages, but I wanted even more. Whether you're preparing for a trip or content with some armchair travel, this book will not disappoint.
July 12, 2011
So I kept hold of this book for nearly a whole year without reading it. To be honest I started reading it once and it wasn't quite what i expected it to be so I put it down and wandered off into the arms of another book.
But having taken this to Turkey with me and read it on two really tedious five hour plane journeys where the highlight was being poked awake by KLM flight attendants who then try to purvey meaty bread snacks... grr... i'm asleep and i'm a vegetarian! I found in the end that once you get past about page 100, it's a great book, therefore, persevere people it is worth it. Well researched, well written, informative in a new and different way. This is a great, actually, no, it's an epic trip across Europe, and back several times, through war, invasion, famine and political upheaval. The statistics and the deaths listed in each chapter are frankly staggering and it is amazing to think that I was born in the same century as this violent upheaval that caused an estimated 20,000 people per day to loose their lives over a four year period.
But having taken this to Turkey with me and read it on two really tedious five hour plane journeys where the highlight was being poked awake by KLM flight attendants who then try to purvey meaty bread snacks... grr... i'm asleep and i'm a vegetarian! I found in the end that once you get past about page 100, it's a great book, therefore, persevere people it is worth it. Well researched, well written, informative in a new and different way. This is a great, actually, no, it's an epic trip across Europe, and back several times, through war, invasion, famine and political upheaval. The statistics and the deaths listed in each chapter are frankly staggering and it is amazing to think that I was born in the same century as this violent upheaval that caused an estimated 20,000 people per day to loose their lives over a four year period.
May 27, 2008
Despite its ambitiousness this book is very interesting and a must read for all the aspiring reporters.
Mak wrote a great account of the Twentieth Century of the Old Continent. "In Europe" is a goldmine of historical informations given by a brilliant and well documented journalist.
Yet, like in many gems there are a few imperfections.
Sometimes Geert Mak could be a better observer like in Cassino where he surprisingly forgets to mention the famous bombardment of the monastery. Besides as a Dutchman he does not seem to show a great sympathy for Brussels. Indeed he did a wonderful job and his writing is never boring.
Like a good wine this book is becoming better year after year gaining a sociological as well as a cultural value. This because just nine years after its publication places like Saint Petersburg, Prague, Moscow, Warsaw and Bucharest are changed a lot.
A bit heavy to carry but extremely user friendly to read.
Mak wrote a great account of the Twentieth Century of the Old Continent. "In Europe" is a goldmine of historical informations given by a brilliant and well documented journalist.
Yet, like in many gems there are a few imperfections.
Sometimes Geert Mak could be a better observer like in Cassino where he surprisingly forgets to mention the famous bombardment of the monastery. Besides as a Dutchman he does not seem to show a great sympathy for Brussels. Indeed he did a wonderful job and his writing is never boring.
Like a good wine this book is becoming better year after year gaining a sociological as well as a cultural value. This because just nine years after its publication places like Saint Petersburg, Prague, Moscow, Warsaw and Bucharest are changed a lot.
A bit heavy to carry but extremely user friendly to read.
June 8, 2015
Difficult to put down. A short sharp and personal history of the 20th Century.
February 8, 2019
If you have to read one book on modern European history i recommend this one, the chapters flow easily, very informative a pleasure to read.
August 4, 2018
Kitap hakkındaki yorumumu yazmadan önce yazarı Geert Mak ile aramda geçen kişisel bir iletişimden bahsetmek istiyorım.
18 yaşındayken bir çılgınlık yapıp Hollandaca öğrenmeye karar vermiştim. Şimdiki 18 yaşındakilere büyük bir çılgınlık olarak gelmese de bu baya zor bir hedefti. Öyle ki kimsenin konuşmadığı, kaynak ve kursu olmayan ve adının bile (belki de Belçika’da yaşayan 8milyon Felemenkin hatrına) yanlış olarak ‘Felemenkçe’ olarak bilindiği bir ülkede bu dili öğrenmek gerçekten mantıklı bir karar değildi. Nasıl olduysa 2 yıl içinde baya ilerleyip Hollandalılarla her türlü sohbet edebilecek hale gelmiştim. Görünüşte Hollandalılar da kendi dillerini bilen bir yabancıyla belki ilk defa karşılaşmaktan çok memnundular. Hollanda’daki Türkler bu kadar iyi konuşamıyor diyip beni bir sihirbazı izler gibi hayranlıkla izlemeleri hoşuma gidiyordu. 2007 yılında çalıştığım otele gelen Hollandalı sayısında patlama olmuştu. Ortalığın çöl bedevisi kaynamadığı son güzel turizm yıllarıydı. Bu benim yüzümden değil ama Geert Mak isimli bir yazarın yazdığı bir kitaptan ötürüydü. Benimle muhabbet etmeyi çok seven Hollandalılar devamlı aynı kitaptan bahsediyordu. De Brug yani köprü. Sonunda ben de meraktan kitabı okudum. Bildiğimiz Galata Köprü’sü ve onun üzerinde yaşayan, geçimlerini kazanan ya da altındaki kafelerde çalışan sıradan insanların hayatlarından bahsediyordu. Yıllardır üzerinden geçip gittiğim bu köprüde ne hayatlar yaşanıyordu ben hiç farketmeden. Mak’ın olağanüstü gözlemciliği ve samimi anlatımı ile köprü apayrı bir dünya olmuştu. Hollandalılar da bu kitabı okuyup Ayasofya’yı veya Boğazı değil öncelikle köprüyü görmeye geliyorlardı. Bunu farkeden köprüdeki bazı kafeler camlarına Hollandaca yazılar yazmışlardı ve Geert Mak’ın fotoğrafları duvarlardaydı. Kitaptan gerçek simalar hala oradaydılar. Milyonlarca euroluk reklamlarla yapılamayacak ülke tanıtımı Mak tek bir kitapla yapmıştı ama kimse farkında değildi. Hollandacam olmasa ben de bunun farkına varamayacaktım. İçimden yazar ile iletişime geçmek ve ona teşekkür etme isteği duydum. Yazarın çalıştığı yayınevine onun adına bir mektup yazıp gönderdim. Kısa bir süre sonra o da bana cevap yazdı. 21 yaşımda Hollandanın en önemli yazarlarından biri ile yazışıyor olmak çok gurur vericiydi. Bundan Hollandalılara bahsetmesem olmazdı. Bir gün Hollanda’dan telefonum arandı ve arayan önceki hafta otelimizde konaklayan bir misafirdi. Kendiside meğerse buraya köprüyü görmeye gelen bir gazeteci yazarmış ve o ayki makalesinde benden bahsetmek istemişti. Çıkarken otelden numaramı almış ve müsaitsem benimle röportaj yapıp yapamayacağını soruyordu. 30 dk kadar bir sohbet havasında röportajdan sonra bana derginin bir kopyasını gönderme sözü vererek kapattı. Gelecek ay dergi elime geçti. Bu sefer de Hollanda’nın en büyük haber dergisinde ismim ufak bir yazım hatası ile basılmıştı; Yassin olarak.
Bu 1000 sayfalık ağır kitabı da ilk önce yazarına olan saygımdan ötürü aldım. Geert Mak gibi birinin kitabı mutlaka okunmaya değerdi diye düşünüyordum. Kitap beklentilerimin de çok ötesindeydi. Daha önce okuduğum bir tarih kitabında kulağa pek hoş gelmese de ‘20. yy dünyasının tarihi Avrupa tarihidir’ diyordu. Bu açıdan bakarsak bu kitap 20.yy dünyasını anlamak için önemli bir eser. Bu kitabında Sayın Mak 1999 yılında Avrupa kıtasının 1899 dan beri başından geçenleri anlatmak için 1 yıl süren uzun bir yolculuğa çıkıyor ve Avrupa tarihinde rol oynamış kilit şehirlere gidip geçmişin izini sürüyor.
Kraliçe Viktorya’nın cenazesinden başlayan bu uzun soluklu gezi 1. Dünya savaşı ve onun cepheleri, yahudi karşıtı kampanyaların artışı, Nazi’lerin iktidara gelişi, 2. Dünya savaşı, İspanya iç savaşı, Sovyet Rusyasının yıkılışı ve Bosna Hersek savaşına kadar Avrupa’nın her köşesine uğruyor. Tarihi bizzat tanıkların gözünden anlatarak resmi tarih anlayışının dışına çıkıyor. 20.yy tarihine yön vermiş Kayser Wilhelm II, Yüzbaşı Dreyfus, Churchill, Adolf Hitler, Lenin, Stalin, De Gaulle, Vichy, Mussolini, Franco, Stalin, Goebbels, Çavuşesku, Mitterand,Gorbaçov, Miloseviç gibi onlarca ismi yakından tanımanızı sağlıyor.
Bunları anlatırken de ikiyüzlü ve taraflı bir dille değil tamamen halkın gözünden ve her fikirden insanın görüşüne ve röportajına yer vererek anlatıyor tarihi. Örneğin Yahudi soykırımını Almanların üzerine iterek klasik Avrupa yüzsüzlüğüne başvurmadan kendi ülkesini de defalarca eleştirerek soykırımın en doğru tanımını şu şekilde yapıyor: Holokost her şey bir yana kendi vicdanlarınının sesini dinlemek yerine, kendi ofisleri, kendi askeri birlikleri ve kendi işyerlerindeki düzen ve disiplini ön plana çıkarmakta sakınca görmeyen yüzbinlerce Avrupalının sessiz sedasız katılımıyla gerçekleşen bürokratik bir taşkınlıktır.
Aynı şekilde Britanya hava kuvvetleri RAF'ın Almanyada yaptığı bombardımanlarda maksimum sivil kayıplar verilebilmesi için yaptıkları stratejileri ve tasarladıkları bombaların detaylarını da ilk defa bu eserde okudum. Evlerin daha uzun süre yanabilmesi için önce cam ve kapıları kıran bombalar ile başlayıp ardından düştüğü apartmanı tamamen yakıp yıkması için zeminde infilak eden ve kurtarma ekipleri gelince onların da ölmesini sağlamak için saatler sonra patlayacak bombalar bıraktıklarını dehşetle okudum.
Geert Mak bu ve bunun gibi yüzlerce detay ile tarihi çok daha yakından tanımamızı sağlıyor. Bu ansiklopedik eseri okumak eminim herkesin tarihe bakışını değiştirecektir.
Tam bir başucu eseri ve okuyabileceğiniz roman tadına en akıcı tarih kitaplarından biri. Avrupa tarihine ilginiz varsa okuma listenize mutlaka ekleyin.
18 yaşındayken bir çılgınlık yapıp Hollandaca öğrenmeye karar vermiştim. Şimdiki 18 yaşındakilere büyük bir çılgınlık olarak gelmese de bu baya zor bir hedefti. Öyle ki kimsenin konuşmadığı, kaynak ve kursu olmayan ve adının bile (belki de Belçika’da yaşayan 8milyon Felemenkin hatrına) yanlış olarak ‘Felemenkçe’ olarak bilindiği bir ülkede bu dili öğrenmek gerçekten mantıklı bir karar değildi. Nasıl olduysa 2 yıl içinde baya ilerleyip Hollandalılarla her türlü sohbet edebilecek hale gelmiştim. Görünüşte Hollandalılar da kendi dillerini bilen bir yabancıyla belki ilk defa karşılaşmaktan çok memnundular. Hollanda’daki Türkler bu kadar iyi konuşamıyor diyip beni bir sihirbazı izler gibi hayranlıkla izlemeleri hoşuma gidiyordu. 2007 yılında çalıştığım otele gelen Hollandalı sayısında patlama olmuştu. Ortalığın çöl bedevisi kaynamadığı son güzel turizm yıllarıydı. Bu benim yüzümden değil ama Geert Mak isimli bir yazarın yazdığı bir kitaptan ötürüydü. Benimle muhabbet etmeyi çok seven Hollandalılar devamlı aynı kitaptan bahsediyordu. De Brug yani köprü. Sonunda ben de meraktan kitabı okudum. Bildiğimiz Galata Köprü’sü ve onun üzerinde yaşayan, geçimlerini kazanan ya da altındaki kafelerde çalışan sıradan insanların hayatlarından bahsediyordu. Yıllardır üzerinden geçip gittiğim bu köprüde ne hayatlar yaşanıyordu ben hiç farketmeden. Mak’ın olağanüstü gözlemciliği ve samimi anlatımı ile köprü apayrı bir dünya olmuştu. Hollandalılar da bu kitabı okuyup Ayasofya’yı veya Boğazı değil öncelikle köprüyü görmeye geliyorlardı. Bunu farkeden köprüdeki bazı kafeler camlarına Hollandaca yazılar yazmışlardı ve Geert Mak’ın fotoğrafları duvarlardaydı. Kitaptan gerçek simalar hala oradaydılar. Milyonlarca euroluk reklamlarla yapılamayacak ülke tanıtımı Mak tek bir kitapla yapmıştı ama kimse farkında değildi. Hollandacam olmasa ben de bunun farkına varamayacaktım. İçimden yazar ile iletişime geçmek ve ona teşekkür etme isteği duydum. Yazarın çalıştığı yayınevine onun adına bir mektup yazıp gönderdim. Kısa bir süre sonra o da bana cevap yazdı. 21 yaşımda Hollandanın en önemli yazarlarından biri ile yazışıyor olmak çok gurur vericiydi. Bundan Hollandalılara bahsetmesem olmazdı. Bir gün Hollanda’dan telefonum arandı ve arayan önceki hafta otelimizde konaklayan bir misafirdi. Kendiside meğerse buraya köprüyü görmeye gelen bir gazeteci yazarmış ve o ayki makalesinde benden bahsetmek istemişti. Çıkarken otelden numaramı almış ve müsaitsem benimle röportaj yapıp yapamayacağını soruyordu. 30 dk kadar bir sohbet havasında röportajdan sonra bana derginin bir kopyasını gönderme sözü vererek kapattı. Gelecek ay dergi elime geçti. Bu sefer de Hollanda’nın en büyük haber dergisinde ismim ufak bir yazım hatası ile basılmıştı; Yassin olarak.
Bu 1000 sayfalık ağır kitabı da ilk önce yazarına olan saygımdan ötürü aldım. Geert Mak gibi birinin kitabı mutlaka okunmaya değerdi diye düşünüyordum. Kitap beklentilerimin de çok ötesindeydi. Daha önce okuduğum bir tarih kitabında kulağa pek hoş gelmese de ‘20. yy dünyasının tarihi Avrupa tarihidir’ diyordu. Bu açıdan bakarsak bu kitap 20.yy dünyasını anlamak için önemli bir eser. Bu kitabında Sayın Mak 1999 yılında Avrupa kıtasının 1899 dan beri başından geçenleri anlatmak için 1 yıl süren uzun bir yolculuğa çıkıyor ve Avrupa tarihinde rol oynamış kilit şehirlere gidip geçmişin izini sürüyor.
Kraliçe Viktorya’nın cenazesinden başlayan bu uzun soluklu gezi 1. Dünya savaşı ve onun cepheleri, yahudi karşıtı kampanyaların artışı, Nazi’lerin iktidara gelişi, 2. Dünya savaşı, İspanya iç savaşı, Sovyet Rusyasının yıkılışı ve Bosna Hersek savaşına kadar Avrupa’nın her köşesine uğruyor. Tarihi bizzat tanıkların gözünden anlatarak resmi tarih anlayışının dışına çıkıyor. 20.yy tarihine yön vermiş Kayser Wilhelm II, Yüzbaşı Dreyfus, Churchill, Adolf Hitler, Lenin, Stalin, De Gaulle, Vichy, Mussolini, Franco, Stalin, Goebbels, Çavuşesku, Mitterand,Gorbaçov, Miloseviç gibi onlarca ismi yakından tanımanızı sağlıyor.
Bunları anlatırken de ikiyüzlü ve taraflı bir dille değil tamamen halkın gözünden ve her fikirden insanın görüşüne ve röportajına yer vererek anlatıyor tarihi. Örneğin Yahudi soykırımını Almanların üzerine iterek klasik Avrupa yüzsüzlüğüne başvurmadan kendi ülkesini de defalarca eleştirerek soykırımın en doğru tanımını şu şekilde yapıyor: Holokost her şey bir yana kendi vicdanlarınının sesini dinlemek yerine, kendi ofisleri, kendi askeri birlikleri ve kendi işyerlerindeki düzen ve disiplini ön plana çıkarmakta sakınca görmeyen yüzbinlerce Avrupalının sessiz sedasız katılımıyla gerçekleşen bürokratik bir taşkınlıktır.
Aynı şekilde Britanya hava kuvvetleri RAF'ın Almanyada yaptığı bombardımanlarda maksimum sivil kayıplar verilebilmesi için yaptıkları stratejileri ve tasarladıkları bombaların detaylarını da ilk defa bu eserde okudum. Evlerin daha uzun süre yanabilmesi için önce cam ve kapıları kıran bombalar ile başlayıp ardından düştüğü apartmanı tamamen yakıp yıkması için zeminde infilak eden ve kurtarma ekipleri gelince onların da ölmesini sağlamak için saatler sonra patlayacak bombalar bıraktıklarını dehşetle okudum.
Geert Mak bu ve bunun gibi yüzlerce detay ile tarihi çok daha yakından tanımamızı sağlıyor. Bu ansiklopedik eseri okumak eminim herkesin tarihe bakışını değiştirecektir.
Tam bir başucu eseri ve okuyabileceğiniz roman tadına en akıcı tarih kitaplarından biri. Avrupa tarihine ilginiz varsa okuma listenize mutlaka ekleyin.
January 31, 2018
BOTW
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09ntd0fDescription: The Dutch journalist Geert Mak travels through Europe at the close of the twentieth century reflecting on the history of the last 100 years and it's legacy. Nicholas Farrell reads.
As the new millennium was about to dawn Geert Mak was commissioned by the newspaper he worked for to write a series of articles assessing the shape Europe was in and the legacy left behind by the twentieth century's turbulent history. Mak travelled back and forth all over the continent, painting a lively and engaging portrait of the places he visited and the people he encountered who shared their stories with him. Book of the Week begins with Mak setting off from Amsterdam for Paris where he finds the remnants of the spectacular World's Fair held there in 1900. Then he follows in the footsteps of Lenin as he made his fateful journey from Zurich to Petrograd, via Stockholm and Helsinki in 1917. He contrasts the Bolshevik leader's fiery politics with the more measured route taken by the Scandinavians. Then on to Odessa and Istanbul where traces of acceptance and tolerance are found amid the worst excesses of tyranny. Finally, to Moscow where he meets the Russian cosmonaut, Anatoli Artsybarski who recalls orbiting the Earth as the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991. A new piece by Geert Mak specially written for Book of the Week updates his reflections twenty years on.
October 28, 2012
I think I will be reading this until I die. It's full of fascinating stuff, but fairly jumps all over the place. Obviously. As my European history isn't too bad I've decided I don't need to read it chronologically and will henceforth dip in here and there for the rest of my life. This seems to suit the book better.
Not blown away by the translation. It's certainly able, but it doesn't flow and it makes it rather a slog.
Edit: not finished but put aside for now, as I'm, erm, In Europe, with limited suitcase capacity. The ww2 stuff was riveting.
Not blown away by the translation. It's certainly able, but it doesn't flow and it makes it rather a slog.
Edit: not finished but put aside for now, as I'm, erm, In Europe, with limited suitcase capacity. The ww2 stuff was riveting.
February 12, 2008
An absolutely excellent book. It is long - 850 pages - but well worth the time to read it. A marvelous and spellbinding trip through time and across Europe. I picked it up by random at a bookstore and was well rewarded. You learn so much about the history of Europe, the context of current problems, and you see corners of the continent that I would love to visit but have not had a chance to (yet).
March 21, 2016
Dit boek heeft mij aangenaam verrast. Toen ik hierin begon had ik weinig hoge verwachtingen. Door de persoonlijke verhalen vertelt Mak de geschiedenis van Europa van de 20e eeuw. Het is niet echt officieel "historisch" maar het is wel ontzettend leuk gedaan!
Alleen die epiloog, dat had voor mij echt niet gehoeven. Dat was gewoon een essay over hoe Europa er in 2007 voorstond maar had eigenlijk weinig op met de rest van het boek.
Alleen die epiloog, dat had voor mij echt niet gehoeven. Dat was gewoon een essay over hoe Europa er in 2007 voorstond maar had eigenlijk weinig op met de rest van het boek.
March 4, 2019
'In Europe' by Geert Mak is in a way a travelogue where the author is writing about history of European XX century visiting the places where particular events took place. I remember that I added this book into my 'to-read' list by recommendation of Goodreads after I had read the astonishing 'Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945' by Tony Judt. The 'Postwar' is very professional, thorough and detailed work in the field of history. And 'In Europe' is plainly journalistic work although the same tremendous and profound. The narrative of 'In Europe' is an intermingled flow of purely historical account of events, quotes from witnesses' memoirs and diaries, excerpts from author's interviews with now living inhabitants of the places he visited and own impressions written in clearly recognizable contemporary journalistic manner.
And the idea behind is to find out what is Europe now? Is there anything that unites Europeans of XXI century or are we completely different? And more ultimately: what is the future of Europe?
Mak is very much focused on telling about historical developments and events. He goes for detailed depiction of the state in Europe on the eve of the First World War, then the beginning of the war after assassination in Sarajevo, then first days of the war, trench warfare, Verden, etc. With his pen he touches all significant events in Berlin, Vienna, Moscow, Madrid, Rome, Lisbon, Dublin, Odessa, Munich, Chernobyl, London, Istanbul, etc. The one who is very well familiar with the history of Europe in the latest period may find this account bringing nothing new if not boring. I myself while being more or less familiar with after-second-world-war period (thanks to Judt) and the period at the very beginning of the last century found the rest of the book especially interesting. But at the same time the journalistic nature of the book - attention to some specific details of everyday living, to specific people, then subjective attempts to explain some developments (when professional historian would keep objective detachment) - helped me to discover still pretty much new, interesting and really important for understanding of that period. Because the highest hurdle to get a genuine feeling and understanding of events in any period in the past, moreover in some far land, is to leave contemporary view, contemporary stereotypes and norms, and to make an attempt to look on things with eyes of own grandfathers or with eyes of far contemporaries of own grandfathers. That's where perhaps a view of journalist can be very supplementing to the view of pure historian.
After reading this book I once again fall on a feeling that history has some powerful invisible flows and undercurrents which are so wide that in their impact usually are not restricted with a single country. I don't mean here big wars but rather the spread of ideas, or moods, or feelings in masses all over the continent. For example, that astonishing in its unanimity hail to war in all main European powers in 1914. Why? Then widespread development of socialist movements in almost all countries regardless of which side they had taken in the preceding war. Then the rise of nationalism which had started long before the Great War and reached its summit in 30's. Then 60's with their simultaneuos tide of upheaval in France, Italy, Germany, Czechoslovakia and others. This list can be continued.
For some of these undercurrents Mak tries to find some explanation, for example for rise and clash of Communist and Nazi ideologies through entire Europe:
"Right-wing movements come from the countryside, left-wing movements from the cities, at least that's the idea. ... The social democrats and communists always focused on the urban proletariat, and did not know what to do with the farmer's problems – their theories did not seem to work in the countryside. The Bolsheviks solved the conflict between city and countryside by simply lumping the farmers together in a kolkhoz, by deporting or starving them. The rest of the left tended to leave this political terrain largely for what it was, and so to all intents and purposes left it to the Christian Democrats, the conservatives, the extreme right and the many farmers’ parties that arose after 1918."
But then isn't it what actually unites all Europeans? That we're susceptible to the same tides, same avalanches? Even now we can see the same picture: rise of populist, protectionist and far-right movements everywhere. Isn't it what Europeans had to have learned from before: look around, what is going on at your neighbor’s land is very likely to happen in your own house.
I liked also the way Mak looked at some not very pleasant sides of history in Europe. Condemning Germany for two world wars is common place in all historical books. But what about France or Netherlands? Mak investigates how had been moods in those countries changing with events. How just four months before liberation of France from Nazis hundreds of thousands of Parisians greeted Petain on the streets of the city. And then out of sudden every second one appeared to be a member of Resistance. The same for Netherlands which among the other occupied countries was the most diligent supplier of Jews to concentration camps. And then after liberation a warm and cozy national myth about massive resistance and hiding Jews in attics and cellars was immediately created. Mak repeats again and again that in all occupied counties it was almost exclusively local people who were busy with persecution of Jews and disloyals, Germans had very limited contingent to make the things work. The same is applicable for Germany itself. Gestapo had surprisingly small apparat. The majority of arrests and accusations happened due to reports of neighbors, colleagues, acquaintances, etc. Exactly as in Stalin's USSR.
While being Dutch Mak doesn't skip either the role of Dutchbat in the Srebrenica massacre, when very limited and lightly armed Dutch UN contingent didn't make a thing to prevent the bloodshed.
I had a personal interest in the chapters dedicated to events in Russia. I found them perhaps a bit superficial but at the same time nothing controversial or too much stereotypic. Another litmus test for such kind of books is Yugoslavian wars. Three last chapters of the book - Novi Sad, Srebrenica and Sarajevo - are devoted exactly to it. I found the way Mak touches this big problem very cautious and delicate. He doesn't try to push everything on one side and emphasizes that the conflict is in fact a century long war caused by indiscriminate and careless geopolitics of big powers. The war so tightly tangled with mutual feuds and revenges that there are no good or bad guys. At the same time he expresses both own feeling and that of local people from all sides that Western powers didn't show any will to understand the hopes and aspirations of Balcanians and just ascribed everything to wild and bellicose national character (and this is so familiar in the context of books on social psychology like 'The Person and the Situation' by Lee Ross).
In the epilogue written 8 years after the main corpus of the book the author touches current problems of Europe and tries to assess the future of EU. Here he finally lets his own thoughts flow free. He underlines that current Europe is very much like France or Netherlands a few hundred years ago soon after unification: no common cultural language, parochialism, mistrust if not hostility to any attempts to centralize decision making. If that eventually had been worked out for mentioned states, then EU has a chance too. At the same time, he compares EU with young United States of Washington and Franklin where government took only vary basic responsibilities like defense and international relations while leaving out all details to the authorities of states: why should cakes in Arkanzas taste the same as in Iowa? And look at the EU, everything is upside down: extremely detailed regulations on every small thing like the size of cucumber or number of cabins in public toilets and at the same time no consensus on the common defense and other aspects where Europe should act as a single united power.
And looking now back from yet another 10 passed years the worries of Mak prove to be valid.
What I didn't like in the book is the number of too obviously "journalistic" tricks like to pick up some particularly gruesome or sad picture somewhere from street life and present it so it would shock a reader. While travelling through impoverished counties of the former Eastern Bloc Mak can't stop repeating how many times he had seeing hookers along highways or how many times he had been offered a girl while being on a train.
-------------
A few quotes in the end.
Do we Europeans have a common history? Of course, everyone can rattle their way down the list: Roman Empire, Renaissance, Reformation, Enlightenment, 1914, 1945, 1989. But then one need only look at the enormous differences in the way that history has been experienced by individual Europeans. ... Put a group of Russians, Germans, Britons, Czechs and Spaniards at one table and have them recite their family histories: they are worlds unto themselves. Yet, even so, it is all Europe.
On the eve of the First World War:
Europe had been living in relative peace for decades, a situation often summarised by the phrase ‘inside Europe, balance rules; outside Europe, Britain rules’. ... Their [keiser Wilhelm II and his ministers] thinking and behaviour focused increasingly on an altered version of stability: outside Europe, balance rules; inside Europe, Germany rules.
At the beginning of the Great War:
‘Back for Christmas’ was the British motto. In Berlin, the kaiser told his soldiers that they would be home again ‘before the leaves have fallen’.
But for the time being, in summer 1940, she saw a continent that was genuinely impressed by this unprecedented German vitality: ‘Hitler, Europe felt, was a smart guy – disagreeable, but smart. He had gone far in making his country strong. Why not try his way?’
That was how many Europeans felt, and they all expressed it in their own way. In France they spoke of the ‘Pax Hitlérica’. In the upper circles of society, it quickly became fashionable to invite young SS and Wehrmacht officers to dinner. They represented a dynamism that had never been seen before, that could perhaps breathe new life into stuffy old France.
During summer 1940, the life expectancy of the British pilot was four, perhaps five weeks.
He [Jean Monnet, one of the pioneers of future EU] reminded us again and again: once you start thinking that a peace treaty is something final, you're in trouble. Peace is a process that requires constant work. Otherwise everyone will do what comes naturally; the strong ones will exert force, the weak ones can only submit.
Neither the hegemony of a given superpower nor the attempt to prevent wars by means of a balance of power have ever led to lasting peace. The big question remains: can power be replaced as a ruling principle in international relations by justice? And how can justice, if it is not to deteriorate into mere words receive access to power? Can we, to that end, develop other forms of power, in order to establish justice between states?
The collapse of the communist experiment was inevitable. For many it came as a liberation, but it was also a trauma, and this fact is systemically ignored in a triumphant Western Europe. It brought democracy and intellectual freedom, but only a small portion of the population was better off materially.
Looking at Europe from the East, you get a different perspective. Western Europe has always been content with itself, while people on the eastern borders have always been faced with the question: do we belong, or don't we? That's why there's so much talk in Eastern Europe about the nature of Europe, much more than in the West. What is Europe? What should Europe be? What should Europe become?’
About immigration in EU:
The problems surrounding certain groups of newcomers have in this way become a European issue – although the symptoms are different from one country to the next. With this, the chances increase that a permanent underclass will arise which, for whatever reason, will be unable to take advantage of the upward social mobility offered by European prosperity. In this way the global divide between rich and poor can slowly grow into fault lines that will tear apart European cities and regions.
Islam vs European values
Europe has in recent years become the unwilling front line in a conflict that must ultimately be fought out within Islam itself, a conflict concerning how such a traditional world religion must deal with secularisation, globalisation, individual liberties, women's rights and all the rest that goes with a modern society.
And the idea behind is to find out what is Europe now? Is there anything that unites Europeans of XXI century or are we completely different? And more ultimately: what is the future of Europe?
Mak is very much focused on telling about historical developments and events. He goes for detailed depiction of the state in Europe on the eve of the First World War, then the beginning of the war after assassination in Sarajevo, then first days of the war, trench warfare, Verden, etc. With his pen he touches all significant events in Berlin, Vienna, Moscow, Madrid, Rome, Lisbon, Dublin, Odessa, Munich, Chernobyl, London, Istanbul, etc. The one who is very well familiar with the history of Europe in the latest period may find this account bringing nothing new if not boring. I myself while being more or less familiar with after-second-world-war period (thanks to Judt) and the period at the very beginning of the last century found the rest of the book especially interesting. But at the same time the journalistic nature of the book - attention to some specific details of everyday living, to specific people, then subjective attempts to explain some developments (when professional historian would keep objective detachment) - helped me to discover still pretty much new, interesting and really important for understanding of that period. Because the highest hurdle to get a genuine feeling and understanding of events in any period in the past, moreover in some far land, is to leave contemporary view, contemporary stereotypes and norms, and to make an attempt to look on things with eyes of own grandfathers or with eyes of far contemporaries of own grandfathers. That's where perhaps a view of journalist can be very supplementing to the view of pure historian.
After reading this book I once again fall on a feeling that history has some powerful invisible flows and undercurrents which are so wide that in their impact usually are not restricted with a single country. I don't mean here big wars but rather the spread of ideas, or moods, or feelings in masses all over the continent. For example, that astonishing in its unanimity hail to war in all main European powers in 1914. Why? Then widespread development of socialist movements in almost all countries regardless of which side they had taken in the preceding war. Then the rise of nationalism which had started long before the Great War and reached its summit in 30's. Then 60's with their simultaneuos tide of upheaval in France, Italy, Germany, Czechoslovakia and others. This list can be continued.
For some of these undercurrents Mak tries to find some explanation, for example for rise and clash of Communist and Nazi ideologies through entire Europe:
"Right-wing movements come from the countryside, left-wing movements from the cities, at least that's the idea. ... The social democrats and communists always focused on the urban proletariat, and did not know what to do with the farmer's problems – their theories did not seem to work in the countryside. The Bolsheviks solved the conflict between city and countryside by simply lumping the farmers together in a kolkhoz, by deporting or starving them. The rest of the left tended to leave this political terrain largely for what it was, and so to all intents and purposes left it to the Christian Democrats, the conservatives, the extreme right and the many farmers’ parties that arose after 1918."
But then isn't it what actually unites all Europeans? That we're susceptible to the same tides, same avalanches? Even now we can see the same picture: rise of populist, protectionist and far-right movements everywhere. Isn't it what Europeans had to have learned from before: look around, what is going on at your neighbor’s land is very likely to happen in your own house.
I liked also the way Mak looked at some not very pleasant sides of history in Europe. Condemning Germany for two world wars is common place in all historical books. But what about France or Netherlands? Mak investigates how had been moods in those countries changing with events. How just four months before liberation of France from Nazis hundreds of thousands of Parisians greeted Petain on the streets of the city. And then out of sudden every second one appeared to be a member of Resistance. The same for Netherlands which among the other occupied countries was the most diligent supplier of Jews to concentration camps. And then after liberation a warm and cozy national myth about massive resistance and hiding Jews in attics and cellars was immediately created. Mak repeats again and again that in all occupied counties it was almost exclusively local people who were busy with persecution of Jews and disloyals, Germans had very limited contingent to make the things work. The same is applicable for Germany itself. Gestapo had surprisingly small apparat. The majority of arrests and accusations happened due to reports of neighbors, colleagues, acquaintances, etc. Exactly as in Stalin's USSR.
While being Dutch Mak doesn't skip either the role of Dutchbat in the Srebrenica massacre, when very limited and lightly armed Dutch UN contingent didn't make a thing to prevent the bloodshed.
I had a personal interest in the chapters dedicated to events in Russia. I found them perhaps a bit superficial but at the same time nothing controversial or too much stereotypic. Another litmus test for such kind of books is Yugoslavian wars. Three last chapters of the book - Novi Sad, Srebrenica and Sarajevo - are devoted exactly to it. I found the way Mak touches this big problem very cautious and delicate. He doesn't try to push everything on one side and emphasizes that the conflict is in fact a century long war caused by indiscriminate and careless geopolitics of big powers. The war so tightly tangled with mutual feuds and revenges that there are no good or bad guys. At the same time he expresses both own feeling and that of local people from all sides that Western powers didn't show any will to understand the hopes and aspirations of Balcanians and just ascribed everything to wild and bellicose national character (and this is so familiar in the context of books on social psychology like 'The Person and the Situation' by Lee Ross).
In the epilogue written 8 years after the main corpus of the book the author touches current problems of Europe and tries to assess the future of EU. Here he finally lets his own thoughts flow free. He underlines that current Europe is very much like France or Netherlands a few hundred years ago soon after unification: no common cultural language, parochialism, mistrust if not hostility to any attempts to centralize decision making. If that eventually had been worked out for mentioned states, then EU has a chance too. At the same time, he compares EU with young United States of Washington and Franklin where government took only vary basic responsibilities like defense and international relations while leaving out all details to the authorities of states: why should cakes in Arkanzas taste the same as in Iowa? And look at the EU, everything is upside down: extremely detailed regulations on every small thing like the size of cucumber or number of cabins in public toilets and at the same time no consensus on the common defense and other aspects where Europe should act as a single united power.
And looking now back from yet another 10 passed years the worries of Mak prove to be valid.
What I didn't like in the book is the number of too obviously "journalistic" tricks like to pick up some particularly gruesome or sad picture somewhere from street life and present it so it would shock a reader. While travelling through impoverished counties of the former Eastern Bloc Mak can't stop repeating how many times he had seeing hookers along highways or how many times he had been offered a girl while being on a train.
-------------
A few quotes in the end.
Do we Europeans have a common history? Of course, everyone can rattle their way down the list: Roman Empire, Renaissance, Reformation, Enlightenment, 1914, 1945, 1989. But then one need only look at the enormous differences in the way that history has been experienced by individual Europeans. ... Put a group of Russians, Germans, Britons, Czechs and Spaniards at one table and have them recite their family histories: they are worlds unto themselves. Yet, even so, it is all Europe.
On the eve of the First World War:
Europe had been living in relative peace for decades, a situation often summarised by the phrase ‘inside Europe, balance rules; outside Europe, Britain rules’. ... Their [keiser Wilhelm II and his ministers] thinking and behaviour focused increasingly on an altered version of stability: outside Europe, balance rules; inside Europe, Germany rules.
At the beginning of the Great War:
‘Back for Christmas’ was the British motto. In Berlin, the kaiser told his soldiers that they would be home again ‘before the leaves have fallen’.
But for the time being, in summer 1940, she saw a continent that was genuinely impressed by this unprecedented German vitality: ‘Hitler, Europe felt, was a smart guy – disagreeable, but smart. He had gone far in making his country strong. Why not try his way?’
That was how many Europeans felt, and they all expressed it in their own way. In France they spoke of the ‘Pax Hitlérica’. In the upper circles of society, it quickly became fashionable to invite young SS and Wehrmacht officers to dinner. They represented a dynamism that had never been seen before, that could perhaps breathe new life into stuffy old France.
During summer 1940, the life expectancy of the British pilot was four, perhaps five weeks.
He [Jean Monnet, one of the pioneers of future EU] reminded us again and again: once you start thinking that a peace treaty is something final, you're in trouble. Peace is a process that requires constant work. Otherwise everyone will do what comes naturally; the strong ones will exert force, the weak ones can only submit.
Neither the hegemony of a given superpower nor the attempt to prevent wars by means of a balance of power have ever led to lasting peace. The big question remains: can power be replaced as a ruling principle in international relations by justice? And how can justice, if it is not to deteriorate into mere words receive access to power? Can we, to that end, develop other forms of power, in order to establish justice between states?
The collapse of the communist experiment was inevitable. For many it came as a liberation, but it was also a trauma, and this fact is systemically ignored in a triumphant Western Europe. It brought democracy and intellectual freedom, but only a small portion of the population was better off materially.
Looking at Europe from the East, you get a different perspective. Western Europe has always been content with itself, while people on the eastern borders have always been faced with the question: do we belong, or don't we? That's why there's so much talk in Eastern Europe about the nature of Europe, much more than in the West. What is Europe? What should Europe be? What should Europe become?’
About immigration in EU:
The problems surrounding certain groups of newcomers have in this way become a European issue – although the symptoms are different from one country to the next. With this, the chances increase that a permanent underclass will arise which, for whatever reason, will be unable to take advantage of the upward social mobility offered by European prosperity. In this way the global divide between rich and poor can slowly grow into fault lines that will tear apart European cities and regions.
Islam vs European values
Europe has in recent years become the unwilling front line in a conflict that must ultimately be fought out within Islam itself, a conflict concerning how such a traditional world religion must deal with secularisation, globalisation, individual liberties, women's rights and all the rest that goes with a modern society.
April 7, 2025
This is a sprawling account of (20th century European) history as the author travels across Europe to gather material, visit important sites, and interviewing ordinary people. His travels starts in Amsterdam. The narrative starts at the beginning of the 20th century. Back then European affairs were family affairs of the rulers. London was full of poor people. Emily Davidson threw herself in front of the King’s carriage for women’s suffrage movement (she died 4 days later).
After a year of travel, he ends in Sarajevo. And the narrative is on the Bosnian war in the 1990s. Sanction created black market. It’s like 1933 in Berlin again: hyperinflation.
European history is a fascinating subject to me. Traveling there is also interesting. At close to 900 pages, this travelogue/history book is huge but surprisingly readable. I suppose it’s a good book to pick up on (or prior to) your next trip to Europe to read up a little on what important 20th century history happened at your destination.
After a year of travel, he ends in Sarajevo. And the narrative is on the Bosnian war in the 1990s. Sanction created black market. It’s like 1933 in Berlin again: hyperinflation.
European history is a fascinating subject to me. Traveling there is also interesting. At close to 900 pages, this travelogue/history book is huge but surprisingly readable. I suppose it’s a good book to pick up on (or prior to) your next trip to Europe to read up a little on what important 20th century history happened at your destination.
August 21, 2019
Geschiedenis, Europa, politiek en geologie. Vier van mijn favoriete onderwerpen fijn gemixt in één boek: In Europa. En wat ben ik bevoorrecht dat ik dit boek heb kunnen lezen tijdens mijn eigen rondreis door Europa!
Allereerst moet ik zeggen dat ik erg te spreken ben over de opzet van dit boek. Er zit chronologie in, maar toch is elk hoofdstuk ook op zichzelf te lezen. Hierdoor is het boek ook handig te gebruiken om informatie te vergaren voor een citytrip naar diverse steden in Europa, om zo een stad nét iets meer een verhaal te geven.
Dit boek toont het menselijke gezicht van Europa, de persoonlijke verhalen achter de geschiedenis en de sentimenten die destijds in de samenleving leefden. Hierdoor krijg je een stuk veelzijdiger beeld van de geschiedenis dan, pak hem beet, een uurtje geschiedenis in de 4e klas van de middelbare school.
Bon, soms is het boek een beetje langdradig, maar ook dan blijft het steengoed. Leg het dan gewoon eventjes weg, lees wat fictie, om het later weer op te pakken. Het is belangrijk dat je je aandacht er wel bij houdt.
Al bij al, topboek, waarvan is blij ben dat ik hem kan afstrepen. Nu kan ik zelf weer even wat fictie lezen, het brein heeft ook soms wat rust nodig.
Allereerst moet ik zeggen dat ik erg te spreken ben over de opzet van dit boek. Er zit chronologie in, maar toch is elk hoofdstuk ook op zichzelf te lezen. Hierdoor is het boek ook handig te gebruiken om informatie te vergaren voor een citytrip naar diverse steden in Europa, om zo een stad nét iets meer een verhaal te geven.
Dit boek toont het menselijke gezicht van Europa, de persoonlijke verhalen achter de geschiedenis en de sentimenten die destijds in de samenleving leefden. Hierdoor krijg je een stuk veelzijdiger beeld van de geschiedenis dan, pak hem beet, een uurtje geschiedenis in de 4e klas van de middelbare school.
Bon, soms is het boek een beetje langdradig, maar ook dan blijft het steengoed. Leg het dan gewoon eventjes weg, lees wat fictie, om het later weer op te pakken. Het is belangrijk dat je je aandacht er wel bij houdt.
Al bij al, topboek, waarvan is blij ben dat ik hem kan afstrepen. Nu kan ik zelf weer even wat fictie lezen, het brein heeft ook soms wat rust nodig.
November 3, 2022
Wat een boek zeg. Mijn tip: trek er een jaar voor uit en wissel het af met andere boeken. Een mens kan immers maar zoveel Jodenvervolging aan, en laat die Jodenvervolging nou een belangrijk onderdeel van de Europese geschiedenis van de 20e eeuw, en daarmee ook van dit boek, zijn.
Geert Mak reisde in opdracht van zijn werkgever in 1999, het hele jaar lang, Europa door. Tijdens die reis beschrijft hij de twintigste-eeuwse Europese geschiedenis vanuit al die verschillende invalshoeken die je in Europa nu eenmaal tegenkomt. Dat maakt het boek zo enorm rijk en interessant, want nergens ter wereld vind je op zo'n (relatief) klein grondgebied zoveel culturen, historie, talen, etc.
Tegelijkertijd is dat ook de valkuil. Europa is gewoon té groot, té verschillend, met té veel verschillende culturen, talen, gebruiken en eigenaardigheden. Het is bijna niet bij te houden. Europa past niet in een boek. Maar Geert Mak heeft een heel goede poging daartoe gedaan.
Geert Mak reisde in opdracht van zijn werkgever in 1999, het hele jaar lang, Europa door. Tijdens die reis beschrijft hij de twintigste-eeuwse Europese geschiedenis vanuit al die verschillende invalshoeken die je in Europa nu eenmaal tegenkomt. Dat maakt het boek zo enorm rijk en interessant, want nergens ter wereld vind je op zo'n (relatief) klein grondgebied zoveel culturen, historie, talen, etc.
Tegelijkertijd is dat ook de valkuil. Europa is gewoon té groot, té verschillend, met té veel verschillende culturen, talen, gebruiken en eigenaardigheden. Het is bijna niet bij te houden. Europa past niet in een boek. Maar Geert Mak heeft een heel goede poging daartoe gedaan.
April 26, 2018
While the portions on the 2 world wars (and the inter-war period in Germany) were riveting, the 2nd half of the century felt rushed. Moreover, while the first person narratives from the eyewitnesses to history were priceless, Mak's personal insights were flat, and even disappointing. To give the book and the century a goal/endpoint, he tries to make the rather soulless EU more than it is (even though unlike the isms that fill his book, European unificiation has never really impassioned any popular movement and even Mak gets very dull when he tries to elevate it.) There are also oddities of editing -- all the phrases in French, Italian and other languages are translated but an enormous number of German phrases and slogans are left in German, enough so that you sometimes lose the thread.
March 1, 2025
Für dieses Mal nur das Kapitel zum 1. Weltkrieg gelesen. Wie mitgerissen mit dem Schmerz der Soldaten aller Kriehsparteien Geert Mak sich durch die Menschen schlachtenden Schlachten der verschiedenen Fronten dieses Krieges schreibt ist so augenöffnend. Die Ziele der Herrschenden, die anfängliche kampfeswütige Euphorie der Bürger der verschiedenen Nationen, die schnelle Ernüchterung im Angesicht der 'großen Wurstmaschine', wie die Franzosen lt Geert Mak sagten, die Unsinnigkeit der stetigen Fortführung des Menschenopfers werden in nüchterner Detailiertheit dargestellt. Die unzähligen Reflexe sich den blutigen Befehlen zu entziehen und zu widersetzen werden erzählt und machen zwischenzeitlich Hoffnung, dass die Geschichte einen anderen Lauf nähme als sie bekanntermaßen nahm.
Für mich dient das erneute Lesen dieser berührenden Passagen der Vorbereitung auf einen Besuch in Verdun in der nächsten Woche.
Gleichzeitig hoffe ich, dass sich die totale Demütigung einer Kriegspartei, der Ukraine, nicht in unseren Tagen wiederholt.
Das Falsche im Richtigen säht die nächsten Katastrophen in absehbarer Folgerichtigkeit.
Für mich dient das erneute Lesen dieser berührenden Passagen der Vorbereitung auf einen Besuch in Verdun in der nächsten Woche.
Gleichzeitig hoffe ich, dass sich die totale Demütigung einer Kriegspartei, der Ukraine, nicht in unseren Tagen wiederholt.
Das Falsche im Richtigen säht die nächsten Katastrophen in absehbarer Folgerichtigkeit.
August 15, 2022
Hoewel ik in Geert Mak mijn adoptie-opa zie (pls reageer op mijn mailtjes, we kunnen samen een museumjaarkaart nemen en naar het museum), is de kunst van een boek schrijven dat 1100 pagina's interessant blijft niet aan hem besteed. Eigenlijk aan niemand. Joseph Roth is wel echt een mad balr.
December 20, 2024
I was disappointed in this book but I might not have been as disappointed if I had read it in 2007 or even 2012 - the optimism that was felt back at the beginning of the millennium about Europe's future was very real but it seems such a long time ago - maybe living in the UK makes my sense of sad alienation from those bright hopeful years more immediate - but, to be honest, works of journalism almost always have a rapid consumption date, unfortunately all journalist cannot be Ryszard Kapuscinski, and Geert Mak is many good things but he is not a writer, thinker or observer of Kapuscinski's stature.
Avoiding altogether those aspects of the book that time has rendered dated I will purely comment on those aspects of it which, even fifteen years ago, I would have found problematic namely the books superficiality and failure to live up to its boast of being a portrait of Europe in the long twentieth century through the perspective of roads, places and people less travelled. Unfortunately all to often his continent hoping reflections barely rise above less than snappy Wikipedia entries for example:
In the section October 1958-80 there are chapters on:
1. Lourdes - over half of which is about Spain
2. Dublin - which is basically a potted history of the Northern Ireland troubles
3. Lisbon - which is only almost entirely about the 1974 Portuguese Revolution and its aftermath
The problem is that Lourdes has nothing to do Spain even if it is in the Pyrenees; the Northern Ireland 'Troubles' was a London, UK, not a Dublin, Republic of Ireland matter; and the 1974 Portuguese revolution was important for Portugal but of far greater impact in what happened to its colonies (though I accept that may be outside the story Mr. Mak intends to tell. Still to ignore it entirely seems deceitful - like dealing with the UK's withdrawal from empire and simply ignoring events like the horrors of partitioning India).
All too often we get potted histories which may have been fine as newspaper columns or excerpts read over BBC radio but as a reading experience in 2023 they are less than gripping.
Perhaps my disillusion was the result of reading his chapter on Srebrenica were we learn more, or hear more, explanations in defense of and explaining why the Dutch troops were not responsible for what happened rather than about what happened. He was not to know that in 2019 the presiding judge of the appeals court at the Hague, Gepke Dulek-Schermers would say that Dutch soldiers:
“...knew or should have known that the men were not only being screened … but were in real danger of being subjected to torture or execution … by having the men leave the compound unreservedly, they were deprived of a chance of survival”.
The judge added that the soldiers had facilitated the separation of the men and the boys among the refugees. 8,000 men and boys (the youngest 14) were slaughtered. I can understand Mr. Mak's desire to absolve his compatriots but if we do we must absolve all those who stood on the sidelines to avoid responsibility for the Shoah. At least they didn't hand the Jews over to their murderers.
The twentieth century in Europe was horribly complex and full of shameful deeds, no country, institution, religion or political body emerges with credit, though there are plenty of ordinary people who did extraordinarily brave things when it would do them no good except to know that had done what was right and decent. If Mr. Mak had done his job and sought out those voices we might have had something unique and timeless. But he didn't and we don't.
Avoiding altogether those aspects of the book that time has rendered dated I will purely comment on those aspects of it which, even fifteen years ago, I would have found problematic namely the books superficiality and failure to live up to its boast of being a portrait of Europe in the long twentieth century through the perspective of roads, places and people less travelled. Unfortunately all to often his continent hoping reflections barely rise above less than snappy Wikipedia entries for example:
In the section October 1958-80 there are chapters on:
1. Lourdes - over half of which is about Spain
2. Dublin - which is basically a potted history of the Northern Ireland troubles
3. Lisbon - which is only almost entirely about the 1974 Portuguese Revolution and its aftermath
The problem is that Lourdes has nothing to do Spain even if it is in the Pyrenees; the Northern Ireland 'Troubles' was a London, UK, not a Dublin, Republic of Ireland matter; and the 1974 Portuguese revolution was important for Portugal but of far greater impact in what happened to its colonies (though I accept that may be outside the story Mr. Mak intends to tell. Still to ignore it entirely seems deceitful - like dealing with the UK's withdrawal from empire and simply ignoring events like the horrors of partitioning India).
All too often we get potted histories which may have been fine as newspaper columns or excerpts read over BBC radio but as a reading experience in 2023 they are less than gripping.
Perhaps my disillusion was the result of reading his chapter on Srebrenica were we learn more, or hear more, explanations in defense of and explaining why the Dutch troops were not responsible for what happened rather than about what happened. He was not to know that in 2019 the presiding judge of the appeals court at the Hague, Gepke Dulek-Schermers would say that Dutch soldiers:
“...knew or should have known that the men were not only being screened … but were in real danger of being subjected to torture or execution … by having the men leave the compound unreservedly, they were deprived of a chance of survival”.
The judge added that the soldiers had facilitated the separation of the men and the boys among the refugees. 8,000 men and boys (the youngest 14) were slaughtered. I can understand Mr. Mak's desire to absolve his compatriots but if we do we must absolve all those who stood on the sidelines to avoid responsibility for the Shoah. At least they didn't hand the Jews over to their murderers.
The twentieth century in Europe was horribly complex and full of shameful deeds, no country, institution, religion or political body emerges with credit, though there are plenty of ordinary people who did extraordinarily brave things when it would do them no good except to know that had done what was right and decent. If Mr. Mak had done his job and sought out those voices we might have had something unique and timeless. But he didn't and we don't.
May 17, 2017
Carrying a lot of books while traveling becomes cumbersome especially when you aim to only have a hand carry with you to be able to skip baggage lines. With this in mind I loaded an e-book version of this book on my reader and went off for a week's vacation.
I am very glad to report that this book has been a treat to read on planes, trains, buses & in parks. So much so that the wife had to remind me about our vacation and the places we had planned to see. It is a very heavy book where the writer is traveling through the European continent to write about Europe's 100 years ending 2000. These 100 years are probably the most important because this is an immediately preceding century and resulted in two great wars which engulfed the entire continent and then the rest of the world. But the world wars were only the first half of century, rest is about the cold war, rise of communism in eastern half, fall of soviet empire, student protests, left wing movements, Balkan wars and lastly the rise of European union. Along the way, the writer has included stories of random people impacted by changes in their continent and also discussions with people involved in the affairs & happenings. His perspective & version of history is often debated but is interesting esp where De Gaulle is someone who is revered despite having done nothing for the French people in WW2, the complicity of ordinary citizen in Jewish prosecution by Nazis, the content of French for a large part of WW2 etc. Geert Mak is from Netherlands, a country we seldom hear about when talking about Europe in general thus it helped to read a bit about his country's involvement in European affairs.
For me an ultimate test of a book read on screen is if I find a need to have it in print for my collection because that means coughing up some money only to showcase it. I just ordered the print version of this book.
I am very glad to report that this book has been a treat to read on planes, trains, buses & in parks. So much so that the wife had to remind me about our vacation and the places we had planned to see. It is a very heavy book where the writer is traveling through the European continent to write about Europe's 100 years ending 2000. These 100 years are probably the most important because this is an immediately preceding century and resulted in two great wars which engulfed the entire continent and then the rest of the world. But the world wars were only the first half of century, rest is about the cold war, rise of communism in eastern half, fall of soviet empire, student protests, left wing movements, Balkan wars and lastly the rise of European union. Along the way, the writer has included stories of random people impacted by changes in their continent and also discussions with people involved in the affairs & happenings. His perspective & version of history is often debated but is interesting esp where De Gaulle is someone who is revered despite having done nothing for the French people in WW2, the complicity of ordinary citizen in Jewish prosecution by Nazis, the content of French for a large part of WW2 etc. Geert Mak is from Netherlands, a country we seldom hear about when talking about Europe in general thus it helped to read a bit about his country's involvement in European affairs.
For me an ultimate test of a book read on screen is if I find a need to have it in print for my collection because that means coughing up some money only to showcase it. I just ordered the print version of this book.
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