ISS Book Series: Homelands with Timothy Garton Ash

Description:

In Homelands, Timothy Garton Ash gives a unique account of the history of Europe since 1945, in which the United States has been a vital actor. This is an unusual genre: history illustrated by memoir and reportage. Drawing on his extensive personal notes from 50 years of events witnessed, places visited, and history makers encountered (from Margaret Thatcher to Vladimir Putin), Garton Ash charts the rise and then faltering of the quest for a ‘Europe whole and free’.

He distinguishes between a post-War era (as famously analysed by Tony Judt) and what he calls the post-Wall era, following the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989. He suggests that the post-Wall period ended on 24 February 2022, with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. His penultimate chapter gives an account of the resulting war, including some personal reportage from Ukraine. So, the larger arc of this history goes from the end of one big war in Europe to the beginning of the next.

What did Europe get right? Where did it go wrong? Why? Garton Ash will discuss these and other questions with the distinguished Yale historian Arne Westad.

Books will be available for purchase and signing by the author after the event.