A good book for europhiles

The book is a 100 year history of Europe by traveling. Geert travels to various cities in Europe of historic importance in a chronologically important order. More than presenting an idea - this is a book of collection of articles about Europe. Though enjoyable and insightful the book has too much to keep track of - too many places, names, events.

I wish it was more sharply edited and a few chapters skipped. The author is good talking about modern Europe (1990) and hence the last chapters of the book are the best. Unfortunately the book contains too many chapters about the world wars and fewer about post-war Europe.

I'd say one of the best books of the year

Despite its subject (100 years of European history) and the number of pages (1116) this was very readable, interesting and informative.

I think I will be reading this until I die. It's full of fascinating stuff, but fairly jumps all over the place. Obviously. As my European history isn't too bad I've decided I don't need to read it chronologically and will henceforth dip in here and there for the rest of my life. This seems to suit the book better.

Not blown away by the translation. It's certainly able, but it doesn't flow and it makes it rather a slog.

Edit: not finished but put aside for now, as I'm, erm, In Europe, with limited suitcase capacity. The ww2 stuff was riveting.

membeli karena tertarik judulnya: mengenai suatu tempat [europe:] dalam batasan waktu tertentu [twentieth century:]. suatu tajuk yang jelas batas-batasnya, secara ruang mau pun waktu.
namun,
yang namanya europe itu ternyata sangat beragam, demikian pula rentang waktu satu abad itu pun dipenuhi oleh beragam peristiwa. dari yang biasa-biasa hingga yang mengubah wajah dunia.
disain sampulnya pun menarik, mengunaakan teknik seperti sablon. suatu gaya yang populer di awal abad XX, khususnya di belana dan jerman [bauhaus:]. jadilah saya beli buku ini, meski sampai rumah menyesal karena harganya jauh lebih mahal katimbang beli online di amazon...:-(
ketika saya menulis ini, barulah sampai pembahasan seputar awal abad XX itu [1900-1914, perang dunia pertama:]. dan dalam rentang waktu itu kota yang dibahas adalah amsterdam, paris dan london.
amsterdam, kota yang paling dekat dengan asal penulisnya sendiri hanya dibahas sedikit. kalah jauh dari uraiannya ttg paris dan london. tentu bukan karena kurangnya bahan, tapi lebih karena kota mana sajakah yang menyumbang perubahan pada peradaban dunia modern di abad tadi. buku ini memang membahas europa dengan menjelajahi genap 12 bulan di hampir semua kota besar di eropa di tahun 1999, setahun menjelang berakhirnya milenium.
dengan mengandalkan data dalam berbagai bentuk [dari sumber resmi pemerintah, pers, iklan, dsb:] wartawan dan sekaligus sejarawan [paduan yang pas?:] ini mengembangkan imaji kita mengenai eropa. yang ternyata begitu beragam, meski kecenderungan sekarang berarah kebalikan: menuju keseragaman.
saya senang cara dia mengembangkan bahan, mengaitkan satu sama lain, dan cara dia meletakkan titik-titik perhatian yang baru, sehingga data lama itu jadi "bunyi" kembali bagi kita yang hidup satu dekade meninggalkan abad yang mempesona tadi.

Picked this up for travel. It is a series of essays about European cities and how they weathered the 20th century, written at the end of it. Early on, Mak quotes the "Red Nobleman", an old Dutchman:
"What do I think about this century now, that it is over? Ah, a century is only a mathematical construct, a human fantasy isn't it?"

and so it is, so Mak instead just sees what modernity has done to old cities and people. Hard for Americans to understand that for some, this last century was not great, and for others, its changes were to be fought.

A few quotes that I wrote down as I read:

"Almost everything that would prove formative to the 20th century was already lying dormant in Vienna in 1900."

"peace, solidarity and cooperation are only conceivable among peoples and nations who know who they are." (Havel)

this is about as much of a travel book as Rebecca West's classic Black Lamb Grey Falcon (also currently being read by this reader).
It is history by one of Netherland's best writers and gives you a sense of a series of places that are connected by their own and neighboring political and military maneuvering. To steal and mangle a phrase, culture is destiny.

holy crap, what a book. startling in scope (europe thru the 20th century) and astonishingly well-written. by turns cynical and heartbreakingly earnest, mak would be an amazing dude to hang out with and have a beer. even though the epilogue was unnecessary and overwritten (unlike the rest of the book), it didn't detract from the effect of the first 890 pages. i now have a much bette concept of europe as a whole, as well as the parts its constituent parts played in the madness that was the majority of the 20th century.

I can only echo the many superlatives that are expressed in the reviews: it's a great overview of the 20th century in Europe, handsomely told through travelogues. I noticed a few historical errors and dated views, but I certainly do not want to undervalue the merit of this book. In my opinion the strongest chapter was on the second world war. In the chapters starting with the 1950's the tempo was a bit too high and the stories Geert Mak relates inevitably became more personal and subjective.