Books: 'Postwar' and 'Letters to a Young Contrarian'
Postwar, by Tony Judt
This 831-pager requires some time. Yet it's an un-boring account of European history since 1945. Judt is currently a professor at NYU, but grew up in Great Britain shortly after the war, and traveled extensively through Europe (east and west) during the Cold War and since. His scholarship, and knack for a quality anecdote, make the lengthy book worth reading.
Probably the most important year in post-war Europe, at least from the American perspective, is 1989. The USSR - our great nemesis - crumbled. However, Judt gives more attention to Hungarian, Czech, Polish, and other anti-Soviet freedom fighters than many American historians do. He notes the U.S. funding of Solidarity in Poland and other rebel groups, but says ultimately the collapse was the simple failure of the Russian style of Communism (see page 631). Gorbachev tried to fix the situation, but it proved unfixable. This might be a liberal interpretation, that Ronald Reagan did not "defeat" Communism, but it is one shared by many, if not most, historians of the era.
Judt also greatly details the post-1989 era, with close to 200 pages on the epoch. As Europe grapples with its identity/purpose/vocation, no one knows what the future holds. The author does, however, dismiss the notion of a United States of Europe. Some authors suggest the end of the Cold War makes Europe more inclined to unify, but Judt argues the opposite. Several particularly poignant comments on the subject are listed below.
The first quote comes after he describes the success of the single European market:
"Men live not in markets but in communities." (796)
"Since 1990 - and e fortiori since 1991 - those states appear, once again, to matter quite a lot." (797)
"Nationalism had largely come and gone, but nations and states remained."(799)
Letters to a Young Contrarian, by Christopher Hitchens, 2001
Hitchens doesn't seem to like writing lengthy books. This one finds its way to 141 pages, on pages small enough that the book can fit in a coat pocket. It's from a mentoring series; Alan Dershowitz is another author in the series. Essentially, they seem to be targeted directly at people who want to buy gifts for recent high school and college grads.
Sometimes Hitchens' use of esoteric literary references and French and Latin phrases can be annoying and seem arrogant. But it's also educational, and makes for a much smarter read than "The Hardy Boys." So there you go. Speaking of pedagogy, Hitchens' own radicalism brings immense color to the collection of historic and literary references. He mentions going in Cuba in 1968, hanging out with Thabo Mbeki in the 1970s (who later became South Africa's president), and he recounts the time in the early 1990s that he headed to Bosnia to see what was up.
One particular section, where he mentions Mbeki and others, is fascinating. To give his (radical) readers hope, he describes meeting several individuals who were outcasts from their dictatorship countries at the time - but went on to lead those same countries in later years (90-92)
Then, to be a contrarian to his own optimism, he describes how those good leaders and other positive role models have also abused their power once attained. (A tidbit that he mentions about Martin Luther King Jr.: Apparently, according to King's contemporary and fellow civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy, King had an interest in white prostitutes, and supposedly was abusive toward one the very night before he was assassinated.)
A few high notes:
The discussion of elitism vs. populism, 69-79
On the "eye for an eye" of the Old Testament and the "cast the first stone" of the New Testament:
"The first is the moral basis for capital punishment and other barbarities; the second is so relativist and "non judgmental" that it would not allow the prosecution of Charles Manson."(58-59)
On "anti-theism" and solitude:
"I can only say that, not only when it is compared to the ghastliness of Eternal Paternalism, the concept of loneliness and exile and self-sufficiency continually bucks me up." (67)
"Distrust any speaker who talks confidently about "we," or speaks in the name of "us." Distrust yourself if you hear these tones creeping into your own style." (99)
A book Hitchens mentions, that I'm making a public note to myself to check out: "The Strange Death of Liberal England," by George Dangerfield
This 831-pager requires some time. Yet it's an un-boring account of European history since 1945. Judt is currently a professor at NYU, but grew up in Great Britain shortly after the war, and traveled extensively through Europe (east and west) during the Cold War and since. His scholarship, and knack for a quality anecdote, make the lengthy book worth reading.
Probably the most important year in post-war Europe, at least from the American perspective, is 1989. The USSR - our great nemesis - crumbled. However, Judt gives more attention to Hungarian, Czech, Polish, and other anti-Soviet freedom fighters than many American historians do. He notes the U.S. funding of Solidarity in Poland and other rebel groups, but says ultimately the collapse was the simple failure of the Russian style of Communism (see page 631). Gorbachev tried to fix the situation, but it proved unfixable. This might be a liberal interpretation, that Ronald Reagan did not "defeat" Communism, but it is one shared by many, if not most, historians of the era.
Judt also greatly details the post-1989 era, with close to 200 pages on the epoch. As Europe grapples with its identity/purpose/vocation, no one knows what the future holds. The author does, however, dismiss the notion of a United States of Europe. Some authors suggest the end of the Cold War makes Europe more inclined to unify, but Judt argues the opposite. Several particularly poignant comments on the subject are listed below.
The first quote comes after he describes the success of the single European market:
"Men live not in markets but in communities." (796)
"Since 1990 - and e fortiori since 1991 - those states appear, once again, to matter quite a lot." (797)
"Nationalism had largely come and gone, but nations and states remained."(799)
Letters to a Young Contrarian, by Christopher Hitchens, 2001
Hitchens doesn't seem to like writing lengthy books. This one finds its way to 141 pages, on pages small enough that the book can fit in a coat pocket. It's from a mentoring series; Alan Dershowitz is another author in the series. Essentially, they seem to be targeted directly at people who want to buy gifts for recent high school and college grads.
Sometimes Hitchens' use of esoteric literary references and French and Latin phrases can be annoying and seem arrogant. But it's also educational, and makes for a much smarter read than "The Hardy Boys." So there you go. Speaking of pedagogy, Hitchens' own radicalism brings immense color to the collection of historic and literary references. He mentions going in Cuba in 1968, hanging out with Thabo Mbeki in the 1970s (who later became South Africa's president), and he recounts the time in the early 1990s that he headed to Bosnia to see what was up.
One particular section, where he mentions Mbeki and others, is fascinating. To give his (radical) readers hope, he describes meeting several individuals who were outcasts from their dictatorship countries at the time - but went on to lead those same countries in later years (90-92)
Then, to be a contrarian to his own optimism, he describes how those good leaders and other positive role models have also abused their power once attained. (A tidbit that he mentions about Martin Luther King Jr.: Apparently, according to King's contemporary and fellow civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy, King had an interest in white prostitutes, and supposedly was abusive toward one the very night before he was assassinated.)
A few high notes:
The discussion of elitism vs. populism, 69-79
On the "eye for an eye" of the Old Testament and the "cast the first stone" of the New Testament:
"The first is the moral basis for capital punishment and other barbarities; the second is so relativist and "non judgmental" that it would not allow the prosecution of Charles Manson."(58-59)
On "anti-theism" and solitude:
"I can only say that, not only when it is compared to the ghastliness of Eternal Paternalism, the concept of loneliness and exile and self-sufficiency continually bucks me up." (67)
"Distrust any speaker who talks confidently about "we," or speaks in the name of "us." Distrust yourself if you hear these tones creeping into your own style." (99)
A book Hitchens mentions, that I'm making a public note to myself to check out: "The Strange Death of Liberal England," by George Dangerfield
posted by bp at
5:49 PM
2 Comments:
I've been meaning to read Postwar. I understand it's an engaging read.
By
t'su, at 10:21 AM
Yeah, I'm glad I read it. But I'm not in school, much less law school. There's a lot more time for pleasure reading when one is only working 40 hours per week... I'm trying to enjoy it while I can!
By
bp, at 3:07 PM
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