The Europeans

by Luigi Barzini

Book Overview

This is an ambitious but breezy analysis of the peoples and pasts of the nascent European Union, and how their individual national identities have formed the way they respond to one another and to the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671245783
• ISBN13: 9780671245788
• Release Date: January 1983
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 267 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.

Customer Reviews

As egaging as when I first read it at 17

Although Barzini's The Europeans tends not to go into too much detail in comparison to other writings, the book cuts straight to the point as to the details of what makes the European community (as well as the uncanny Americans)tick. European Union is promoted within this book, as well as some of its' possible dangers and why the Americans should have been heavily invested in the European marketplace from the practical get-go; rather than taking the stance of the world's unofficial boy scout. The book is a look back in time to what was happening around it as well as what had happened before, and why. What tends to be so interesting in this novel is how what was said in the book in 1984 still holds true today. If one is interested in the European framework this is definitely a necessary primer in ones' education in comparative government and political histories.

The only thing you can count on Europeans, is to be European

First published in 1983 makes this book now 24 years old ,or almost a quarter of a century.This book is as informative and pertinent today as when it was written ;except for two things that are having a huge impact on Europe.Surprisingly, neither of these two influences were even mentioned;and probably not even forseen by the author. Eurpoe has had a long history and has always lived in it and continues to do so today.This approach to things is brought out clearly throughout the book and consistent with each country. Europeans consistently look to the past for guidance into the future. The author shows,whether intended or not,that each country believes they are superior to the others,and are guided by this over any desire to cooperate with one another.Even when they have been helped to overcome adversity by others,they soon forget,and yes, even resent the help they have received. Even after the disasterous WWI and WWII,brought on by themselves,and God only knows where it would all have ended ;were it not for America,Britain ,Canada and others outside Europe ,that put an end to it ;and helped immensely in its rebuilding.Has Europe learned from it and finally got itself out of the past and into the present...hardly. The prejudices,hatred,jelousy,historical rememberances and revenges,attempts to put down one another still remain.If they ever act in unison ,it is only when they spout their anti-Americanism.And why,when America has come to their help and has been successful in all the areas where Europe has failed so miserably? Europeans continue to live in the past,and cannot accept the fact that America was formed mainly by people of Europe and Britain who had had enough of the past and left to find a new life, free of the institutions,royalty,isms,opulance, position and entitlements by birth,and all the things that Barzini talks about in his book. The concepts upon which America were built,were;Life,Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness . It seems if Europeans want to create a unified country ,they have to give up the things that have kept them divided in the the past and maybe take some advice from what President Abraham Lincoln said in the beginning of his Gettysburg Address; "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continient,a new nation,conceived in Liberty,and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." As long as each european country thinks of themselves first and a unified Europe as "arrangement" of countries ,they will never attain what America has been able to do. What Europeans have to do is believe in the concept of "One for all and all for one";hardly a concept that has been associated with europe in the past and a long way from what exists today. Now about those two immensely important things that the author has not addressed, and which were ,to a large extent,not seen at the time he wrote this book. With the massive decline of the birth rate in Europe,these countries are no longe

One of the most insightful books ever written

Luigi Barzini is truly an indiviual of great perception and much understaning in his analysis of the European peoples and of also the citizens of the USA. In a world where it is popular to claim that we are all "the same" it is good to see that common sense and discernment have prevailed in this outstanding insight into the understanding of nations and the differences that separate them.

Still True Today.

This 1983 book surprised me in how rich and true many of the author's views are in the present. It is a light analysis of the western Europeans. With brief histories that have formed their individual national identities and how they react to the world. Mr. Barzini is cogniscent of the limitations of his assessments and is tongue in cheek in his approach. I interpreted this book as half memoir, and half observational. His insights can be seen in the very titles of the chapters. The Elusive Europeans, The Imperturable British, The Mutable Germans, The Quarrelsome French, The Flexible Italians, The Careful Dutch, and The Baffling Americans. I am very confident that most people with even a modest interest in current events and European history would find this an entertaining book.

Engaging and informative

I found this at a local used bookstore and bought it on a whim. It is an ambitious but breezy analysis of the peoples and pasts of the nascent European Union, and how their individual national identities have formed the way they respond to one another and to the rest of the world. What makes this book especially interesting is that it was written back in the early 80s, before the Euro and really before the European Union itself was thought a likely reality, so the author approaches the possibility of an EU with some skepticism, and much of his analysis on the need for an EU is predicated on the threat of the no-longer-extant Soviet Union. Having read the book, I would have loved to meet the author--a journalist, he's witty, erudite, laconic, chatty, gossipy, sophisticated and frank--an incredibly well-traveled, multi-lingual raconteur. Yes, there are some cliches here, especially in his analysis of Americans (whom he considers alternately with affection, awe, and dismay), but he's honest about the limitations of his approach, and his assessments of European attitudes toward America are enlightening. This reads more like a memoir than serious non-fiction. Even so, and despite being twenty years out of date, the insights in this book shed light on international matters today. I thoroughly enojoyed this.