Casimer

David Remnick wrote two books on Russia, "Lenin's Tomb" and

"Resurrection: The Struggle for a New Russia." They are good

books to read to understand Russia today. Obviously, there are

other good books, too. My question is, what are some similar

books on Europe today? I'd be interested in books written on any

part of Europe. My criteria is that they are well-written and not full

of bias. I'm not looking for books that discuss long past events

like the Franco-Prussian War, but books that provide some insight

on Europeans since the late 1980s.





Casimer

Toby

For Italy -

There is one called The Italians by Luigi Barzini, who was a well
respected commentator. Some of goes back a long way (middle ages), but
as must be the case in many European countries you need to go back a
long way to explain why countries are as they are now. However, he
does explain in some detail the economic miracle of the post war years
to the late 60s, so a bit before your time period of interest..

There is a more contemporary commentary called The New Italians by
Charles Richards which was quite interesting. A very recent one called
The Dark Heart of Italy by Tobias Jones details the Berlusconi era but I
haven't read that.

Hope this helps,
Toby


Casimer wrote:

    >David Remnick wrote two books on Russia, "Lenin's Tomb" and
    >"Resurrection: The Struggle for a New Russia." They are good
    >books to read to understand Russia today. Obviously, there are
    >other good books, too. My question is, what are some similar
    >books on Europe today? I'd be interested in books written on any
    >part of Europe. My criteria is that they are well-written and not full
    >of bias. I'm not looking for books that discuss long past events
    >like the Franco-Prussian War, but books that provide some insight
    >on Europeans since the late 1980s.
    >Casimer
    >

Barbara Vaughan

Toby wrote:
    >
    > For Italy -
    >
    > There is one called The Italians by Luigi Barzini, who was a well
    > respected commentator. Some of goes back a long way (middle ages), but
    > as must be the case in many European countries you need to go back a
    > long way to explain why countries are as they are now. However, he
    > does explain in some detail the economic miracle of the post war years
    > to the late 60s, so a bit before your time period of interest..
    >
    > There is a more contemporary commentary called The New Italians by
    > Charles Richards which was quite interesting. A very recent one called
    > The Dark Heart of Italy by Tobias Jones details the Berlusconi era but I
    > haven't read that.

For Italian social life and customs, I like Italian Neighbors by Tim
Parks.

Barbara

P J Wallace

ooer, there's probably no end of them. Luigi Barzini's 'the Europeans'
is available in the US, and is an interesting overview country by
country. In Britain, John Ardagh and Jonathan Fenby have published
interesting books on modern France. Gordon Craig's 'The Germans' looks
as though it may not be recent enough for you - my edition stops in
the late 1970s; Peter Schneider's 'German Comedy' was quite good on
Germany in the aftermath of the collapse of the DDR, but may now also
be out of date.

PJW
On Tue, 15 Apr 2003 16:37:46 GMT, "Casimer"
wrote:
    > I'm not looking for books that discuss long past events
    >like the Franco-Prussian War, but books that provide some insight
    >on Europeans since the late 1980s.

Polar

On Tue, 15 Apr 2003 20:37:12 +0200, Barbara Vaughan
wrote:

    >Toby wrote:
    >>
    >> For Italy -
    >>
    >> There is one called The Italians by Luigi Barzini, who was a well
    >> respected commentator. Some of goes back a long way (middle ages), but
    >> as must be the case in many European countries you need to go back a
    >> long way to explain why countries are as they are now. However, he
    >> does explain in some detail the economic miracle of the post war years
    >> to the late 60s, so a bit before your time period of interest..

That is a *wonderful* book!!! I re-read it periodically; thanks for
reminding me. After living years in Italy, there was stuff I only
understood after reading Barzini. You can't lose by checking out that
great book at the library, or maybe it's still in print?


    >>
    >> There is a more contemporary commentary called The New Italians by
    >> Charles Richards which was quite interesting. A very recent one called
    >> The Dark Heart of Italy by Tobias Jones details the Berlusconi era but I
    >> haven't read that.
    >For Italian social life and customs, I like Italian Neighbors by Tim
    >Parks.


--
Polar

Ian Millward

More strictly to the point, there is also 'The Europeans' by Luigi Barzini,
published in 1983.


I have read all of these book and I thought that the two later ones, 'The
New Italians', and 'The Dark Heart of Italy' were both a little overlong for
the material with frequent repetitions to fill up the space. Well worth a
read though.

It seems a bit sad that not many people seem to find the rest of Europe
interesting enough to write about, other than Italy, although it is not too
hard to figure out why.

Here is another of my favourites but which may be out of print. 'Getting it
right in Italy' by William Ward. Published by Bloomsbury Publishing Ltd. in
1990

I think you might find it a bit more fun and probably just as informative if
you were to read the following books by Tim Parks:

An Italian Education.
Italian Neighbours.
A Season With Verona.

Hope this helps.

Ian Millward

Gregory Morrow

P J Wallace wrote:

    > ooer, there's probably no end of them. Luigi Barzini's 'the Europeans'
    > is available in the US, and is an interesting overview country by
    > country. In Britain, John Ardagh and Jonathan Fenby have published
    > interesting books on modern France. Gordon Craig's 'The Germans' looks
    > as though it may not be recent enough for you - my edition stops in
    > the late 1970s; Peter Schneider's 'German Comedy' was quite good on
    > Germany in the aftermath of the collapse of the DDR, but may now also
    > be out of date.

Craig's book is still a good background of modern Germany. When I bought it
about 15 years ago I remember telling friends "I wish Craig would write such
a book about every European country..." -- the book is *that* good.

Anything by Peter Schenider is highly recommended....

For Czechia, I like Ivan Klima's writings...also Milan Kundera, Josef
Skvorecky....

Even though some of these may not be strictly up - to - date, they give a
good view into the "soul" of a society. They help one to view modern
nations and societies in a historical context.

--
Best
Greg

John Bermont

Casimer wrote:
    >
    > David Remnick wrote two books on Russia, "Lenin's Tomb" and
    >
    > "Resurrection: The Struggle for a New Russia." They are good
    >
    > books to read to understand Russia today. Obviously, there are
    >
    > other good books, too. My question is, what are some similar
    >
    > books on Europe today? I'd be interested in books written on any
    >
    > part of Europe. My criteria is that they are well-written and not full
    >
    > of bias. I'm not looking for books that discuss long past events
    >
    > like the Franco-Prussian War, but books that provide some insight
    >
    > on Europeans since the late 1980s.
    >
    > Casimer

Casimer,

I do not know the books you mentioned, but for France I recommend "The
French: Portrait of a People" by Sanche de Gramont. Putnam's 1969.

It is an amusing and amazing diagnosis of the French people. He is
opinionated. The author is "the product of French parents, French
secondary schools, and French military services; . . . also product of
Yale and Columbia University, a ten year career on New York City
newspapers and national magazines, and . . . in the custody of an
American wife."

John Bermont
--
------------------------------------------------------
* * * Mastering Independent Budget Travel * * *
http://www.enjoy-europe.com/
------------------------------------------------------

Gordon Forbess

On Tue, 15 Apr 2003 16:37:46 GMT, "Casimer"
wrote:

    >David Remnick wrote two books on Russia, "Lenin's Tomb" and
    >"Resurrection: The Struggle for a New Russia." They are good
    >books to read to understand Russia today. Obviously, there are
    >other good books, too. My question is, what are some similar
    >books on Europe today? I'd be interested in books written on any
    >part of Europe. My criteria is that they are well-written and not full
    >of bias. I'm not looking for books that discuss long past events
    >like the Franco-Prussian War, but books that provide some insight
    >on Europeans since the late 1980s.

"Coping with Germany" by John A. Phillips. A short paperback, a bit
dated, but well worth reading if you can find it.

Gordon

Magda

On Tue, 15 Apr 2003 16:37:46 GMT, in rec.travel.europe, "Casimer"
arranged some electrons, so they looked like this :

... David Remnick wrote two books on Russia, "Lenin's Tomb" and
... "Resurrection: The Struggle for a New Russia." They are good
... books to read to understand Russia today. Obviously, there are
... other good books, too. My question is, what are some similar
... books on Europe today? I'd be interested in books written on any
... part of Europe. My criteria is that they are well-written and not full
... of bias. I'm not looking for books that discuss long past events
... like the Franco-Prussian War, but books that provide some insight
... on Europeans since the late 1980s.

I like the Xenophobe's Guides. Not at all like the ones you mention, but not too biased,
as far as I can see. Some are hilarious.

Carole Allen

There's a series called "Traveler's Tales" for different countries.
Each consists of short essays written by a variety of travel writers
(and amateurs). I particularly enjoyed France and Spain (especially
the essays on Spanish history). If you are heavily into history,
another series: "Traveller's History of [insert your county here]"
.... heavy going, but for history lovers a real find....

On Tue, 15 Apr 2003 16:37:46 GMT, "Casimer"
wrote:

    >David Remnick wrote two books on Russia, "Lenin's Tomb" and
    >"Resurrection: The Struggle for a New Russia." They are good
    >books to read to understand Russia today. Obviously, there are
    >other good books, too. My question is, what are some similar
    >books on Europe today? I'd be interested in books written on any
    >part of Europe. My criteria is that they are well-written and not full
    >of bias. I'm not looking for books that discuss long past events
    >like the Franco-Prussian War, but books that provide some insight
    >on Europeans since the late 1980s.
    >Casimer

Deep Floyd Mars

Magda wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > On Tue, 15 Apr 2003 16:37:46 GMT, in rec.travel.europe, "Casimer"

    > arranged some electrons, so they looked like this :
    > ... David Remnick wrote two books on Russia, "Lenin's Tomb" and
    > ... "Resurrection: The Struggle for a New Russia." They are good
    > ... books to read to understand Russia today. Obviously, there are
    > ... other good books, too. My question is, what are some similar
    > ... books on Europe today? I'd be interested in books written on any
    > ... part of Europe. My criteria is that they are well-written and not
full
    > ... of bias. I'm not looking for books that discuss long past events
    > ... like the Franco-Prussian War, but books that provide some insight
    > ... on Europeans since the late 1980s.
    > I like the Xenophobe's Guides. Not at all like the ones you mention, but
not too biased,
    > as far as I can see. Some are hilarious.

I'll second that! Quoting from the French one:
"They go to considerable trouble to limit the corrupting influence of US
culture, establishing a quota system for American films, restricting the
number of American fast food outlets, and parking EuroDisney sufficiently
far from Paris to give it a sporting chance of failure."
---
DFM

Magda

On Wed, 16 Apr 2003 23:30:11 +0100, in rec.travel.europe, "Deep Floyd Mars"
arranged some electrons, so they looked like this:


... I'll second that! Quoting from the French one:
... "They go to considerable trouble to limit the corrupting influence of US
... culture, establishing a quota system for American films, restricting the
... number of American fast food outlets, and parking EuroDisney sufficiently
... far from Paris to give it a sporting chance of failure."

The american obsession with hair and with "being loved" had me in stitches too.

Ed Krol

One of the best books on understanding France is from Paris to the Moon
by Gopnik. He was a writer for the New Yorker who lived in Paris
and wrote a series of very personal essays on life in Paris for he his wife
and his newborn son. Especially fun if you know the Saint Germain area of
Paris since many of the essays are centered around his home there.

Tim

"Ed Krol" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > One of the best books on understanding France is from Paris to the Moon
    > by Gopnik. He was a writer for the New Yorker who lived in Paris
    > and wrote a series of very personal essays on life in Paris for he his
wife
    > and his newborn son. Especially fun if you know the Saint Germain area of
    > Paris since many of the essays are centered around his home there.

There's a good small book called "The Xenophobe's Guide to Austria".
I'm afraid I can't remember who it was by, other than an ex-pat brit.
Tim.