Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945.

How do we define the modern European consciousness? Tony Judt tries to answer that question in Postwar by tracing the change in European politics, culture, economy and society since the end of WWII until 2005. The book almost won the Pulitzer for non-fiction when it was published and is probably one of Judt's most famous books. Unfortunately, when I was reading up on his background, I discovered that he passed away August 6th of this year--less than a month ago. Coming in at 860-sum pages, it is a mammoth work. Interestingly, he doesn't have many citations at all throughout the book and seems to be a culmination of a life-long study of Europe, which shows in the way he writes and frames ideas of Europe so vividly.

Judt informs his readers in the introduction that he has no metanarrative of Europe to tell. Littered throughout the book are admonitions to readers (and historians) not to look retrospectively at history and assume the inevitability of events. He is a vocal proponent of human actors being linchpins of history on whom pivotal moments with global consequences rest. Although he admits that he has no "big story" to tell, he does trace four major themes in the history of Europe: (1) Europe's reduction away from imperial dreams; (2) loss of "master narratives" of European history; (3) the "European model" of regulation social intercourse and inter-state relations; and (4) Europe's complicated relationship with the United States. Just a few brief words on each to summarize...

1. Europe's reduction: self-explanatory. After WWII, European imperial holdings had to be relinquished due to the heavy economic strain it placed on the battered European industrial base and military might.
2. Loss of "master narratives": Europe no longer had grand theories of the trajectory of history and the destiny of Europe. The dawn of the second world war wiped away any idea that Europe was on a "trajectory" of any sort.
3. The "European model": this model refers to both the welfare state that Europeans preferred to have, with Keynesian ideas of full-employment, heavy taxes, and state largess. Judt argues that this emerged as the political-economic landscape because of the desire for security. This was as opposed to American capitalism, which Europeans began to view as barbaric and cold with little care for human welfare and cultivation of the good virtues of a just society. European inter-state relations, reaching its apogee in the European Union, is now a widely acclaimed model. Europe has become post-nationalist and post-ideological.
4. Europe's relationship with the US: oddly enough, when Europe emerged out of WWII, the USSR was not viewed immediately as the enemy. The Americans were possible rivals of the USSR as "the other". There was widespread fear of Americanization, the onslaught of American products and culture, etc. Trust in the peaceful intentions of the USSR were only shattered in 1956 with the Communist coup in Budapest. I tend to think of the USSR as always begin painted the "evil empire" in Reagan-ian terms, when this is hardly the case. Communist parties flourished even in Western Europe for several years after the war ended, coopting the socialist platform by promoting democracy as a way to power.

Judt is not writing a normal history book that recounts specific events, but instead he oftentimes flies at 20,000 feet, venturing into more abstract fields such as culture and cinema. He discusses issues such as daily lifestyles, culture wars, intellectual debates on politics and the welfare state, and even on nebulous topics like European consciousness and the definition of "Europe." He ends the book on a hopeful note, even contemplating that the 21st century may prove Europe as recovered and in ascent.