Synopsis
A Times, Financial Times and Telegraph Political Book of the Year
'Illuminates some of the great trends of our time' - Gideon Rachman, Financial Times
'Vivid, urgent and unsettling' - Tom Holland, author of Dominion
_____
In a series of vivid, empathetic portraits of other people’s lives, journalist Ben Judah invites us to meet some of the people who call Europe their home.
Who makes up this population of some 750 million, sprawled from Ireland to Ukraine, from Sweden to Turkey? Who has always called it home? Who has newly arrived from elsewhere? Who are the people who drive our long-distance lorries and steward our criss-crossing planes? And who risks life itself in search of safety and a new start?
Drawn from hours of painstaking interviews, these vital stories reveal a vibrant continent which has been transformed by diversity, migration, the internet, climate change, Covid, war and the quest for freedom.
Laid dramatically bare, it may not always be a Europe we recognize – but this is Europe.
_____
'An astonishing achievement' - Evening Standard
'Brilliantly told . . . highly readable' - The Times
'Unflinching' - The Guardian
Details
Reviews
“An extraordinary series of interviews.”Rory Stewart
“Deeply empathetic. Judah is an ace reporter with a novelist's love of character. He conjures people and place in a modern literary form he has made his own. There's no romance to this journey across Europe — but an abundance of story which will make you lurch between fascination, laughter and tears.”Sophy Roberts, author of The Lost Pianos of Siberia
“A kaleidoscope of bright human experience. Moving, poignant and compelling – I devoured this in a day.”Jenny Kleeman, author of Sex Robots & Vegan Meat
“Ben Judah has the ability to listen and retell, see and describe, feel and convey . . . Judah paints another Europe with intense and dramatic detail – a Europe that you may not recognize, but that you will look for every day having read this book.”Andrey Kurkov, author of Death and the Penguin
