Geert Mak spent the year 1999 criss-crossing the continent, tracing the history of Europe from Verdun to Berlin, St Petersburg to Auschwitz, Kiev to Srebrenica. He set off in search of evidence and witnesses, looking to define the condition of Europe at the verge of a new millennium. The result is mesmerising: Mak's rare double talent as a sharp-eyed journalist and a hugely imaginative historian makes In Europe a dazzling account of that journey, full of diaries, newspaper reports and memoirs, and the voices of prominent ...
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Geert Mak spent the year 1999 criss-crossing the continent, tracing the history of Europe from Verdun to Berlin, St Petersburg to Auschwitz, Kiev to Srebrenica. He set off in search of evidence and witnesses, looking to define the condition of Europe at the verge of a new millennium. The result is mesmerising: Mak's rare double talent as a sharp-eyed journalist and a hugely imaginative historian makes In Europe a dazzling account of that journey, full of diaries, newspaper reports and memoirs, and the voices of prominent figures and unknown players; from the grandson of Kaiser Wilhelm II to Adriana Warno in Poland, with her holiday job at the gates of the camp at Birkenau. But Mak is above all an observer. He describes what he sees at places that have become Europe's well-springs of memory, where history is written into the landscape. At Ypres he hears the blast of munitions from the Great War that are still detonated twice a day. In Warsaw he finds the point where the tram rails that led to the Jewish ghetto come to a dead end in a city park. And in an abandoned cr???che near Chernobyl, where tiny pairs of shoes still stand in neat rows, he is transported back to the moment time stood still in the dying days of the Soviet Union. Mak combines the larger story of twentieth-century Europe with details that suddenly give it a face, a taste and a smell. His unique approach makes the reader an eyewitness to his own half-forgotten past, full of unknown peculiarities, sudden insights and touching encounters. In Europe is a masterpiece; it reads like the epic novel of the continent's most extraordinary century.
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Add this copy of In Europe: Travels Through the Twentieth Century to cart. $1.11, good condition, Sold by ZBK Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Woodland Park, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Vintage.
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Used book in good and clean conditions. Pages and cover are intact. Limited notes marks and highlighting may be present. May show signs of normal shelf wear and bends on edges. Item may be missing CDs or access codes. May include library marks. Fast Shipping.
Add this copy of In Europe: Travels Through the Twentieth Century to cart. $2.97, fair condition, Sold by ZBK Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Woodland Park, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 2007 by Pantheon.
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Fair. May contain writing notes highlighting bends or folds. Text is readable book is clean and pages and cover mostly intact. May show normal wear and tear. Item may be missing CD. May include library marks. Fast Shipping.
Add this copy of In Europe: Travels Through the Twentieth Century to cart. $3.00, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Vintage.
Add this copy of In Europe: Travels Through the Twentieth Century to cart. $3.00, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Vintage.
Add this copy of In Europe: Travels Through the Twentieth Century to cart. $3.00, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Vintage.
Add this copy of In Europe: Travels Through the Twentieth Century to cart. $3.30, like new condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Vintage Books USA.
Add this copy of In Europe: Travels Through the Twentieth Century to cart. $3.90, good condition, Sold by Solr Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Skokie, IL, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Vintage.
Add this copy of In Europe: Travels Through the Twentieth Century to cart. $3.96, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Brownstown, MI, UNITED STATES, published 2007 by Pantheon Books.
Add this copy of In Europe: Travels Through the Twentieth Century to cart. $3.96, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2007 by Pantheon Books.
Add this copy of In Europe: Travels Through the Twentieth Century to cart. $3.96, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2007 by Pantheon Books.
This book is like a chronological stroll through the twentieth century, stopping occasionally to look at the scenery or smell the flowers. Personal "from-the-time" observations add a lifelike color to the scenes. Each section is typically written from the city where the event(s) took place. While each chapter is as compelling as a mystery, each chapter can stand alone as a picture of it's own - you can skip around or interrupt your reading without losing the flavor. Since the writer is a journalist, the writing itself is exceedingly sound (for those of us who unconsciously note such things.) Overall one of the most interesting books I've read in some time...a real must-read for a history buff, but a delightful repast for the rest of us.