Fifty Years of Europe An Album
by Jan Morris
From Kirkus Reviews
The fall of the Berlin Wall and the dramatic changes in Europe have produced a virtual industry of publications. Now comes the book we've been waiting for: master travel writer Morris's (Sydney, 1992; O Canada, 1992, etc.) uncannily astute reflections on how Europe has developed over the past 50 years. It is 51 years exactly since Morris, then named James, a young Anglo-Welsh soldier in Trieste, first took notes on his European experience. Although Morris's 1972 gender change is not discussed directly in these writings, they offer a deeply personal and subjective view of a continent observed by a perceptive eyewitness who, it so happens, has had the added advantage of experiencing it as both man and woman. Morris's is a truly unique voice. The book consists of vignettes loosely structured under five chapter headings. It begins with ``Holy Symptoms,'' characteristically serious but witty responses to the role of paganism and Christianity as ``universal defining factors'' in European history. Morris, an ardent Welsh patriot, brings a singular understanding to the subject of Europe's ethnic and geographic diversity and the bloody business of nation-building in the next two sections. The final chapters cover Europe's increasing homogenization and the six attempts to unify the continent, from the Holy Roman Empire to the European Union. Morris's understanding of both the follies and the dignity of patriotism lie behind her ability to laugh at and delight in others' idiosyncrasies. With the Germans, Morris admits to having a love-hate relationship, and her pieces on Germany's rich cultural legacy set against its Nazi past are among the most moving in the book. The glory of France she finds ``insidiously seductive'' because it strikes her as ``perfectly humorless,'' whereas it is the ``sycophancy of older Austrians'' that she most dislikes. For every nation, for every region or town, from Finland to Greece, Morris delivers a precise, moving, and eloquent reflection. Fifty Years of Europe is a delight. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Product Description
In this vibrant, personal journey through Europe proper, historian and writer Jan Morris--the world's most celebrated traveler--offers an intimate exploration of the continent, telling how it has changed--as well as remained unalterable--for the past half century.
Amazon.com Review
Not just anyone could do justice to Europe and how it's changed over the past 50 years. It takes a person with the longevity and experience to have known Europe since the war, a sensitivity and intelligence to reflect with insight, and the eloquence to bring it alive. It was Jan Morris's book to write, and the world is richer for her having done so. Historian, travel writer, and novelist--Morris takes an intimate trip through Europe, from Trieste at the end of World War II to booking passage on the Chunnel train and contemplating a modern, united Europe. With her keen use of language, astute eye, and personal touch, Morris narrates engagingly the pride, pathos, and ironies of Europe.
From Library Journal
After a half-century of traversing Europe, which for her stretches from Iceland to the former Yugoslavia, travel writer and historian Morris (Fisher's Face, LJ 5/15/95) offers a chatty, nostalgic guided tour. Her book consists of hundreds of loosely organized, bite-sized recollections of people and places: sacred stones and rivers, tram lines and steamships?anything that defines part of European culture. Morris is especially interested in details that sharply illustrate changes between 1946 and 1996: the Channel tunnel (Chunnel), the opening of an Irish pub in Estonia, the growth of the European Union. Her fluid, leisurely wit shows no trace of condescension, for she finds something to like everywhere, even fondly remembering Soviet-style hotels in Lithuania. A sincere love of Europe's diversity radiates throughout. Recommended for popular history an
The fall of the Berlin Wall and the dramatic changes in Europe have produced a virtual industry of publications. Now comes the book we've been waiting for: master travel writer Morris's (Sydney, 1992; O Canada, 1992, etc.) uncannily astute reflections on how Europe has developed over the past 50 years. It is 51 years exactly since Morris, then named James, a young Anglo-Welsh soldier in Trieste, first took notes on his European experience. Although Morris's 1972 gender change is not discussed directly in these writings, they offer a deeply personal and subjective view of a continent observed by a perceptive eyewitness who, it so happens, has had the added advantage of experiencing it as both man and woman. Morris's is a truly unique voice. The book consists of vignettes loosely structured under five chapter headings. It begins with ``Holy Symptoms,'' characteristically serious but witty responses to the role of paganism and Christianity as ``universal defining factors'' in European history. Morris, an ardent Welsh patriot, brings a singular understanding to the subject of Europe's ethnic and geographic diversity and the bloody business of nation-building in the next two sections. The final chapters cover Europe's increasing homogenization and the six attempts to unify the continent, from the Holy Roman Empire to the European Union. Morris's understanding of both the follies and the dignity of patriotism lie behind her ability to laugh at and delight in others' idiosyncrasies. With the Germans, Morris admits to having a love-hate relationship, and her pieces on Germany's rich cultural legacy set against its Nazi past are among the most moving in the book. The glory of France she finds ``insidiously seductive'' because it strikes her as ``perfectly humorless,'' whereas it is the ``sycophancy of older Austrians'' that she most dislikes. For every nation, for every region or town, from Finland to Greece, Morris delivers a precise, moving, and eloquent reflection. Fifty Years of Europe is a delight. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Product Description
In this vibrant, personal journey through Europe proper, historian and writer Jan Morris--the world's most celebrated traveler--offers an intimate exploration of the continent, telling how it has changed--as well as remained unalterable--for the past half century.
Amazon.com Review
Not just anyone could do justice to Europe and how it's changed over the past 50 years. It takes a person with the longevity and experience to have known Europe since the war, a sensitivity and intelligence to reflect with insight, and the eloquence to bring it alive. It was Jan Morris's book to write, and the world is richer for her having done so. Historian, travel writer, and novelist--Morris takes an intimate trip through Europe, from Trieste at the end of World War II to booking passage on the Chunnel train and contemplating a modern, united Europe. With her keen use of language, astute eye, and personal touch, Morris narrates engagingly the pride, pathos, and ironies of Europe.
From Library Journal
After a half-century of traversing Europe, which for her stretches from Iceland to the former Yugoslavia, travel writer and historian Morris (Fisher's Face, LJ 5/15/95) offers a chatty, nostalgic guided tour. Her book consists of hundreds of loosely organized, bite-sized recollections of people and places: sacred stones and rivers, tram lines and steamships?anything that defines part of European culture. Morris is especially interested in details that sharply illustrate changes between 1946 and 1996: the Channel tunnel (Chunnel), the opening of an Irish pub in Estonia, the growth of the European Union. Her fluid, leisurely wit shows no trace of condescension, for she finds something to like everywhere, even fondly remembering Soviet-style hotels in Lithuania. A sincere love of Europe's diversity radiates throughout. Recommended for popular history an
HistoryCivilizationTravelEurope
RELEASED1998
PUBLISHERPenguin
LENGTH376
LANGUAGEEN
Fifty Years of Europe An Album
by Jan Morris
From Kirkus Reviews
The fall of the Berlin Wall and the dramatic changes in Europe have produced a virtual industry of publications. Now comes the book we've been waiting for: master travel writer Morris's (Sydney, 1992; O Canada, 1992, etc.) uncannily astute reflections on how Europe has developed over the past 50 years. It is 51 years exactly since Morris, then named James, a young Anglo-Welsh soldier in Trieste, first took notes on his European experience. Although Morris's 1972 gender change is not discussed directly in these writings, they offer a deeply personal and subjective view of a continent observed by a perceptive eyewitness who, it so happens, has had the added advantage of experiencing it as both man and woman. Morris's is a truly unique voice. The book consists of vignettes loosely structured under five chapter headings. It begins with ``Holy Symptoms,'' characteristically serious but witty responses to the role of paganism and Christianity as ``universal defining factors'' in European history. Morris, an ardent Welsh patriot, brings a singular understanding to the subject of Europe's ethnic and geographic diversity and the bloody business of nation-building in the next two sections. The final chapters cover Europe's increasing homogenization and the six attempts to unify the continent, from the Holy Roman Empire to the European Union. Morris's understanding of both the follies and the dignity of patriotism lie behind her ability to laugh at and delight in others' idiosyncrasies. With the Germans, Morris admits to having a love-hate relationship, and her pieces on Germany's rich cultural legacy set against its Nazi past are among the most moving in the book. The glory of France she finds ``insidiously seductive'' because it strikes her as ``perfectly humorless,'' whereas it is the ``sycophancy of older Austrians'' that she most dislikes. For every nation, for every region or town, from Finland to Greece, Morris delivers a precise, moving, and eloquent reflection. Fifty Years of Europe is a delight. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Product Description
In this vibrant, personal journey through Europe proper, historian and writer Jan Morris--the world's most celebrated traveler--offers an intimate exploration of the continent, telling how it has changed--as well as remained unalterable--for the past half century.
Amazon.com Review
Not just anyone could do justice to Europe and how it's changed over the past 50 years. It takes a person with the longevity and experience to have known Europe since the war, a sensitivity and intelligence to reflect with insight, and the eloquence to bring it alive. It was Jan Morris's book to write, and the world is richer for her having done so. Historian, travel writer, and novelist--Morris takes an intimate trip through Europe, from Trieste at the end of World War II to booking passage on the Chunnel train and contemplating a modern, united Europe. With her keen use of language, astute eye, and personal touch, Morris narrates engagingly the pride, pathos, and ironies of Europe.
From Library Journal
After a half-century of traversing Europe, which for her stretches from Iceland to the former Yugoslavia, travel writer and historian Morris (Fisher's Face, LJ 5/15/95) offers a chatty, nostalgic guided tour. Her book consists of hundreds of loosely organized, bite-sized recollections of people and places: sacred stones and rivers, tram lines and steamships?anything that defines part of European culture. Morris is especially interested in details that sharply illustrate changes between 1946 and 1996: the Channel tunnel (Chunnel), the opening of an Irish pub in Estonia, the growth of the European Union. Her fluid, leisurely wit shows no trace of condescension, for she finds something to like everywhere, even fondly remembering Soviet-style hotels in Lithuania. A sincere love of Europe's diversity radiates throughout. Recommended for popular history an
The fall of the Berlin Wall and the dramatic changes in Europe have produced a virtual industry of publications. Now comes the book we've been waiting for: master travel writer Morris's (Sydney, 1992; O Canada, 1992, etc.) uncannily astute reflections on how Europe has developed over the past 50 years. It is 51 years exactly since Morris, then named James, a young Anglo-Welsh soldier in Trieste, first took notes on his European experience. Although Morris's 1972 gender change is not discussed directly in these writings, they offer a deeply personal and subjective view of a continent observed by a perceptive eyewitness who, it so happens, has had the added advantage of experiencing it as both man and woman. Morris's is a truly unique voice. The book consists of vignettes loosely structured under five chapter headings. It begins with ``Holy Symptoms,'' characteristically serious but witty responses to the role of paganism and Christianity as ``universal defining factors'' in European history. Morris, an ardent Welsh patriot, brings a singular understanding to the subject of Europe's ethnic and geographic diversity and the bloody business of nation-building in the next two sections. The final chapters cover Europe's increasing homogenization and the six attempts to unify the continent, from the Holy Roman Empire to the European Union. Morris's understanding of both the follies and the dignity of patriotism lie behind her ability to laugh at and delight in others' idiosyncrasies. With the Germans, Morris admits to having a love-hate relationship, and her pieces on Germany's rich cultural legacy set against its Nazi past are among the most moving in the book. The glory of France she finds ``insidiously seductive'' because it strikes her as ``perfectly humorless,'' whereas it is the ``sycophancy of older Austrians'' that she most dislikes. For every nation, for every region or town, from Finland to Greece, Morris delivers a precise, moving, and eloquent reflection. Fifty Years of Europe is a delight. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Product Description
In this vibrant, personal journey through Europe proper, historian and writer Jan Morris--the world's most celebrated traveler--offers an intimate exploration of the continent, telling how it has changed--as well as remained unalterable--for the past half century.
Amazon.com Review
Not just anyone could do justice to Europe and how it's changed over the past 50 years. It takes a person with the longevity and experience to have known Europe since the war, a sensitivity and intelligence to reflect with insight, and the eloquence to bring it alive. It was Jan Morris's book to write, and the world is richer for her having done so. Historian, travel writer, and novelist--Morris takes an intimate trip through Europe, from Trieste at the end of World War II to booking passage on the Chunnel train and contemplating a modern, united Europe. With her keen use of language, astute eye, and personal touch, Morris narrates engagingly the pride, pathos, and ironies of Europe.
From Library Journal
After a half-century of traversing Europe, which for her stretches from Iceland to the former Yugoslavia, travel writer and historian Morris (Fisher's Face, LJ 5/15/95) offers a chatty, nostalgic guided tour. Her book consists of hundreds of loosely organized, bite-sized recollections of people and places: sacred stones and rivers, tram lines and steamships?anything that defines part of European culture. Morris is especially interested in details that sharply illustrate changes between 1946 and 1996: the Channel tunnel (Chunnel), the opening of an Irish pub in Estonia, the growth of the European Union. Her fluid, leisurely wit shows no trace of condescension, for she finds something to like everywhere, even fondly remembering Soviet-style hotels in Lithuania. A sincere love of Europe's diversity radiates throughout. Recommended for popular history an
HistoryCivilizationTravelEurope
RELEASED1998
PUBLISHERPenguin
LENGTH376
LANGUAGEEN