Homelands: A Personal History of Europe

Drawing on fifty years of interviews and experience, Homelands tells the epic story of how Europe in the early twenty first century, having emerged from its wartime hell, recovered and rebuilt, liberated and united to come close to the ideal of a Europe 'whole, free and at peace', and then faltered. 'A moving love letter to Europe' Lea Ypi, author of Free Homelands is a stunning blend of contemporary history, reporting and memoir by our greatest writer about Europe. Drawing on half a century of travel and thinking, Homelands tells the story of Europe since its emergence from wartime hell in 1945- how it slowly recovered and rebuilt, liberated and united to come close to the ideal of a Europe 'whole, free and at peace'. And then faltered. Timothy Garton Ash has spent a lifetime studying Europe. Highly personal and deeply felt, this book is also full of vivid experiences, encounters and anecdotes- from his father's memories of D-Day to interviewing Polish dockers, Albanian guerrillas in the mountains of Kosovo, and angry teenagers in the poorest quarters of Paris, as well as advising prime ministers, chancellors and presidents in the UK, Europe and the US. Homelands is both a living, breathing history of a period of unprecedented progress and a clear-eyed account of how so much then went wrong, from the financial crisis of 2008 to the war in Ukraine. At its heart, this book is an urgent call to the citizens of this great old continent to understand and defend what we have collectively achieved.

About the Author :
Timothy Garton Ash was 17 when Britain joined the European Community and 64 when Britain left it. In the intervening years he has lived and breathed European politics, witnessing some of the most dramatic scenes in its history, interviewing many of its key players and analysing how life has evolved for ordinary Europeans across the breadth of the continent. He is Professor of European Studies at the University of Oxford and a columunist for the Guardian. He has won many prizes and plaudits for his journalism and books, including The File, his riveting autobiographical account of investigating the contents of his Stasi file after the fall of East Germany.

Review :
A moving love letter to Europe, Homelands merges memoir, political analysis and social criticism to reflect on the future of a continent still haunted by its past The right book for Europe, at the right time ... the perfect book for the present Garton Ash does it brilliantly ... tremendously enjoyable ... thoughtful, honest, open, self-deprecating A panoramic contemporary history of Europe, in which sharp political analysis is enlivened with personal memoir - drawn from decades of distinguished work as a journalist and academic Readers could hardly wish for a wiser guide. Over 40 years, Garton Ash has both watched from the stands and played on the pitch in the arena of European change