The Dream of Europe: Travels in a Troubled Continent Paperback – 23 Mar. 2023

The author examines the EU during the first two decades of this century, and what an interesting read it is. He’s travelled all over Europe and observed how the the EU has faced many challenges this century.By 2000, the EU was riding high - a bigger economy than America, and the Euro was soon to be introduced. In 50 years, its member countries had gone from the devastation of WW2 to unparalleled peace and prosperity. The former Communist states of Eastern Europe were all eager to join and a massive expansion of the EU would follow.He explains, however, that the seeds of future problems had already been sown. Foremost, like America, a minority getting ever richer and the rest of the population seeing their incomes stagnate or fall in real terms was also happening in Europe. The problem was made worse by the banking crisis of 2008. Governments bailed out the banks - the cost of bad business decisions being born by taxpayers, not shareholders. This led to increased government debt and then spending cuts and tax rises, hitting those at the bottom and in the middle hardest. Bankers carried on paying themselves multi million bonuses while ordinary people were left to pay the price for the bankers' irresponsible behaviour. As ever, it was socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor.Then came the Euro crisis in countries such as Greece, Spain and Portugal, which again saw ordinary citizens suffering the consequences while the banks who had loaned money got repaid in full.Under Obama the American economy had recovered from the banking crisis within two years, a crisis which Clinton, Bush, and Congress had allowed to happen. By contrast, a decade later Europe’s economy had barely recovered.Its citizens naturally were unhappy and wanted someone to blame. National politicians blamed the EU to take the spotlight off their own incompetence, the biggest example being the UK and Brexit. Populist politicians claimed Britain’s problems were due to being in the EU. They weren’t but voters wanted to give Prime Minister Cameron a bloody nose, and what better way to do so than vote to leave (albeit it was very much a generational split, with a majority of those under 45 wanting to stay in the EU, and the old attracted by promises of recapturing former glories for Britain).Brexit did, however, have a positive outcome for the EU. When other EU countries saw what a disaster Brexit has been for the UK, support in those countries for leaving the EU dropped dramatically, and although voters have limited faith in EU politicians, they have even less faith in their own national politicians.The author examines how the admission of former Communist countries upset the EU’s balance. Current members’ experience was defined by WW2 and the coming together after that to build a united Europe. The new Eastern European members had a different perspective. They had gone straight from Nazi occupation to Russian occupation. When their freedom came in 1989, many of their people were driven by nationalism, a chance to be their own country. Hungary and Poland, in particular, elected far right leaders, who once in power set about trying to ensure they could never be voted out again. ( In 2023, Poland’s right wing government was voted out but Hungary’s pro Putin leader, Orban, remains firmly in power.)Immigration from Asia and Africa also shook the foundations of the EU, and traditionally progressive countries saw support for populist parties rise. Falling living standards were successfully blamed on immigration, rather than the vast transfer of wealth upwards to the top one percent, which began in the 1980s and has accelerated since then.The author concludes that a real issue for many in the EU is a loss of a sense of belonging to a community. The nation state, he notes, is something that only came to the fore in much of Europe in the nineteenth century and that many prefer identifying themselves with their city or region, not their country, something the EU is able to address by lessening the impact of the nation state. Many Catalans might not want to be part of Spain, but they and the rest of Spain can both agree they all want to be in the EU. Scots more readily identify themselves as European than British and likewise a Corsican, European rather than French.Though the likes of Putin and Trump would like to see the EU fail so they can bully individual countries in Europe, the author explores how recent experiences such as the pandemic and Ukraine appear to have strengthened the EU, and perhaps, after a difficult start for it to the twenty first century, its best days are yet to come. Its speed of response to these two crises has been much quicker and more sure footed than the speed with which the EU approached earlier crises. Its achilles heel remains the need to get 27 countries to agree on matters where unanimity is required with each leader playing to his national electorate rather than doing what is best for Europe as a whole.An essential read if you want to understand the most ambitious international project since 1950.

If you are interested in modern Europe, it's people, politics, culture and possible future this is an excellent and balanced view of the last 20 years.

It is wonderful to have this new volume by Geert Mak. I read the first volume: In Europe: Travels Through the Twentieth Century some years ago and really enjoyed it, finding it well-written and highly informative.I hope you find my review helpful.

This book (and Geert Mak's previous one "In Europe") should be obligatory literature in secondary schools. It gives a very good overview of recent history of Europe. It should also be a mandatory read for politicians - if only they could reflect on certain issues.... well worth reading, and reading again...

Europe is knackered - nothing escapes the critical and jaundiced eye of the author as he explores the various disasters that have engulfed Europe in recent years.That said, certain things clear upset the author more than others - particularly neoliberal capitalism while Brexit and Donald Trump (who gets far too much time in a book about Europe, globalism notwithstanding) get a severe bashing.Which gives the book a distinct air of polemic at times as the authors own prejudices come forward.As such, this book works best (and very effectively) when reporting events, particularly the horrors of the migrant and financial crises, but is unimpressive in much of its analysis which is frequently unbalanced (which I say as a “Remainer” and someone who finds Trump deplorable).

If you read his other book In Europe you will find this equally fascinating. A deeply sympathetic collection of wise observations and reflections on the evolution of Europe in the first two decades of this century. Great treasure trove to di into again and again. Highly recommended.

This is a timely follow-up to the author's earlier book that described Europe from 1945 to the end of the 20th century. This book was published right before the invasion of Ukraine, and yet he set the stage convincingly with his description of Putin's Russia and Europe's tangled relationship with Russia. Given that Mr. Mak is Dutch, it's probably not surprising that his journey in 21st century Europe seems sometimes to give excessive weight to the importance and influence of The Netherlands as somehow the center and key to understanding Europe. But on the whole, I found the book informative and fascinating, especially when he wrote about the tensions between Northern and Southern Europe and Western and Eastern. He raised interesting questions, such as whether or not the EU expanded too broadly and quickly, and what is the future of the Euro, among others. It does what any good non-fiction should do, raise as many questions as it gives answers.

The best book I have ever read concerning the history of the EU, and the external influences which have affected it. The relationship with the United States, and the passages concerning Trump, are perhaps the most compelling. Either way, economic factors are given as much weight as political and social factors. A very well rounded history of all the modern issues facing the EU including the migrant crisis, Brexit and Covid. Recommended for anyone with the slightest interest in Europe.

The book describes the progress made over the last twenty years in Europe and also how it plays on a global level. Well written, well researched and a pleasure to read. I would recommend it to every American.