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''Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945'' is a 2005 non-fiction book written by British historian and scholar
Tony Judt Tony Robert Judt ( ; 2 January 1948 – 6 August 2010) was a British-American historian, essayist and university professor who specialized in European history. Judt moved to New York and served as the Erich Maria Remarque Professor in European ...
who specialised in
European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD 500), the Middle Ages (AD 500 to AD 1500), and the modern era (since AD 1500). The first early ...
. The book examines six decades of European history from the end of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
in 1945 up to 2005. The book won considerable praise for its breadth and comprehensive approach. ''
The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...
'' listed it as one of the ten best books of 2005. It won the 2006
Arthur Ross Book Award The Arthur Ross Book Award is a politics-related literary award. History and administration It was endowed in 2001 by Arthur Ross, an American businessman and philanthropist, for the purpose of recognizing books that make an outstanding contr ...
for the best book published on international affairs, and was shortlisted for the 2006
Samuel Johnson Prize The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, formerly the Samuel Johnson Prize, is an annual British book prize for the best non-fiction writing in the English language. It was founded in 1999 following the demise of the NCR Book Award. With its ...
. It also won the 2008 European Book Prize. As is made clear in the introduction, the author makes no attempt to expound any grand theory or "overarching theme" for
contemporary European history ''Contemporary European History'' is an international peer-reviewed academic history journal, published by Cambridge University Press quarterly since 1992 and covering the history of Europe from 1918 onwards. Currently its editors are Dr Ludivine ...
, aiming to avoid narrative fallacies by plainly retelling the entire scope of European history in that period, to let what themes do exist become self-apparent. Although praising the book's scope and quality, the historian Norman Davies nonetheless noted that it "is impervious to religion, unmoved by music and rather complacent about non-French and non-political branches of art and culture" and put less emphasis on the experiences of
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, the larger regions of France and Germany, and regionalism in general.


See also

*
History of Europe The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD 500), the Middle Ages (AD 500 to AD 1500), and the modern era (since AD 1500). The first ea ...


References

* 2005 non-fiction books History books about Europe History books about the 20th century 21st-century history books Penguin Press books British non-fiction books {{Europe-hist-book-stub