Postwar, rediscovered

The recent death of Tony Judt inspired me to return to Postwar, his masterful history of Europe since 1945. What I remembered from reading it before was its excellent coverage of Europe at the end of the second World War - easily the best thing I have read about the war and its costs in years.

But I never made it much past the 1950s, if memory serves me correctly. So it is illuminating to dip into some of the later chapters - on the differences between the different Easten bloc regimes, on the fall of Communism, and on the origins and problems of European union.

This is simply one of those indispensable books that provides context and a sense of narrative to already-familiar events. In its scope and balance - it moves from east to west, and from country to country with ease - it reminds me of nothing so much as Diarmaid MacCulloch's The Reformation.