One of the good things that came out of COVID19 pandemic is I suddenly discovered (or rediscovered?) a new hobby: reading. Post War is among the first books I read after the pandemic starts. This short review was written in December 2020.
Tony Judt’s Post War is a great read for anyone who is curious about Europe since WWII. You may be disappointed if you expect a completely objective narrative based on data and stories. Don’t get me wrong—Judt is a good storyteller and he tells a wide range of stories, in fact, so broad he even commented on David Beckham, describing him as “an English player of moderate technical gifts but an unsurpassed talent for self-promotion”….He does, however, insistently make you feel his presence, preference, and emotions in these stories. I love his style, but I realize some may prefer historians without strong opinions.
Judt never hides his love for the “European Social Model”, which recognizes the state has the duty to “shield citizens from the hazards of misfortune or the market”, and “social responsibility and economic advantage should not be mutually exclusive”. At the end of the book, he passionately compares Europe with America and China, writing, “America would have the biggest army and China would make more, and cheaper, goods. But neither America nor China had a serviceable model to propose for universal emulation. In spite of the horrors of their recent past—and in large measure because of them—it was Europeans who were now uniquely placed to offer the world some modest advice on how to avoid repeating their own mistakes. Few would have predicted it sixty years before, but the twenty-first century might yet belong to Europe.”
