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When the Facts Change: Essays 1995 - 2010 Kindle Edition
by Tony Judt (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 96 ratings
A great thinker's final testament: a characteristically wise and forthright collection of essays from the author of Postwar and Thinking the Twentieth Century that feels all the more potent and important in today’s political climate.
Edited and introduced by Jennifer Homans.
Tony Judt’s widow and fellow historian, Jennifer Homans, has gathered together important essays from the span of Judt’s career that chronicle both the evolution of his thought and the remarkable consistency of his passionate engagement and intellectual élan.
Whether the subject is the scholarly poverty of the new social history, the willful blindness of French collective memory about what happened to the country’s Jews during World War II, or the moral challenge to Israel of the so-called Palestinian problem, the majesty of Tony Judt’s work lies in his combination of unsparing honesty, intellectual brilliance, and ethical clarity.
When the Facts Change exemplifies the necessity of minding our history and not letting cheerful fictions suffice in its place. An emphatic demonstration of the power of a great historian to connect us more deeply to the world as it was, as it is, and as it should be, it is a fitting capstone to an extraordinary body of work.
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"Tony Judt was a historian whose journalism includes some of the finest things he wrote . . . In an era of growing anti-intellectualism, his essays remind us of what we gain when we stick fast to high ethical and intellectual standards, and what is lost when we let them slip." --Mark Mazower, Financial Times
"Scintillating journalism . . . This collection is a reminder of Judt's clear mind and prose and, as Homans says in her lovely introduction, his fidelity to hard facts and to honest appraisal of the modern scene. . . . No wonder this book, and Judt's assumption of the role of political critic after the Cold War, remain so relevant." --Samuel Moyn, The New York Times Book Review
About the Author
Tony Judt(1948-2010) was educated at King's College, Cambridge, and l'École Normale Supérieure, Paris, and taught at the Universities of Cambridge, Oxford, and Berkeley. He was the Erich Maria Remarque Professor of European Studies at New York University and the director of the Remarque Institute, which he founded in 1995. Among other books, Judt was the author of Thinking the Twentieth Century, The Memory Chalet, Ill Fares the Land, Reappraisals, and Postwar, which was one of the New York Times Book Review's Ten Best Books of 2005 and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
Jennifer Homans is the author of Apollo's Angels: A History of Ballet. She lives in New York City.
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Top review from Australia
John W. Newham
5.0 out of 5 stars Top of the pile - a must.Reviewed in Australia on 31 October 2015
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Important global issues examined by a first class writer. Brilliant review of Prof .. 's book.
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MR A DU BOIS
5.0 out of 5 stars Judt at his bestReviewed in Canada on 4 February 2016
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Fantastic anthology of some of Judt's best writing.
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Richard E. Hayes
5.0 out of 5 stars Judt's judgementsReviewed in the United States on 22 May 2015
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Before he died young, age 62, Judt wrote 14 books and 190 articles (listed at the back of this book). His widow Jennifer Homans has done a great service to edit this collection, essential reading for those who want to understand what has happened in the world in recent decades. He inspires trust with his erudition and freedom from ideological cant. A central group of essays on Jews and Israel include one not before published. In it (2009) he says Israel must acknowledge Palestinians' loss and suffering, must negotiate with Hamas, the "Greater Israel" project is doomed, a two-state agreement must be made, Jerusalem must be an open city, Israels' abuse of Palestinians is a cause of resurgence of anti-Semitism and a recruiting agent for radical Islamists, and "time is not on anyone's side." His essays on Israel show him changing his mind as a result of paying close attention to events and to the wisdom of others, and one senses that he was not done with changing his mind.
He writes knowledgeably about many influential persons -- Camus, Hobsbawm, Amos Elon, Hannah Arendt, Raymond Aron, Isaiah Berlin, Hayek, Keynes, Furet, Gaddis, Kolakowski, and political leaders.
When he writes devastating reviews of major books -- THE AGE OF EXTREMES by Hobsbawm ("a missed opportunity"), EUROPE: A HISTORY by Norman Davies ("a truly unsavory book"), SUPERCAPITALISM by Robert Reich ("unconvincing") -- he writes a scholarly history lecture using an impressive grasp of facts.
Essays about Eastern Europe, neglected in American education, are useful. Essays about the Iraq War, changes in U.S.-U.N. relations, recent changes in American economic and political conditions show his power to bring a knowledge of European history to bear intelligently on current events in our nation.
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John S. McDonald
5.0 out of 5 stars These essays and their sharp intelligence and preparedness to voice ...Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 January 2016
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These essays and their sharp intelligence and preparedness to voice strong individual opinions and not merely echo mainstream commentators (see esp. the essays on Israeli policy) serve as an awful reminder of what the academic world of modern history and political commentary lost with Judt's premature death. Compelling and stimulating reading.
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C. Hale
5.0 out of 5 stars Thankful for posthumous workReviewed in Germany on 3 November 2015
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Tony Judt's painful death deprived the world of a powerful, humane intellectual who was never afraid to confront difficult truths and contend with the consequences. We should thank his widow for preparing this collection. Now we can only return to the works of the past.
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Francois Choquette
4.0 out of 5 stars Four StarsReviewed in Canada on 19 February 2016
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Rien à signaler
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Stanley Crowe
5.0 out of 5 stars pragmatist manifestos?
Reviewed in the United States on 6 May 2015
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Tony Judt was a distinguished historian of modern Europe, but the essays in this collection are opinion pieces (often in the form of book-reviews) and not examples of historical writing per se. They are of course historically informed, and as the title suggests, Judt is highly critical of ideology and policy prescriptions that show scant respect for the facts, and when one looks at the dates of these essays, it's fairly easy to predict that what we'll get is an acerbic criticism of the ideology and policies of the Bush administration at the time of the so-called War on Terror and the invasion of Iraq. Ten to fifteen years on, they seem prophetic -- Judt had taken the measure of the Bush administration and (like other writers like Andrew Bacevich), he is clear-eyed and merciless. Conservative readers will no doubt be both appalled and dismissive as Judt analyzes the role of the UN; the cult of militarism that is backed by a largely credulous and under-informed public; and the self-destructive policies of Israel and its American enablers towards the Palestinians -- about which Judt writes as a Jewish friend of Israel (see for example "Its Own Worst Enemy") . It's soon clear that his basic stance is humane and pragmatic and that his heroes are people like George Kennan and Dean Acheson who guided US policy towards a devastated Europe and a nervous world in the wake of WW2. And while he often agrees with European critics of the US, his point of view is NOT in fact "European," as one reviewer writes -- it is pragmatic and humane, and he is as ready to criticize European initiatives as American ones, if they are not well founded. See his unillusioned essay "The Grand Illusion," which casts a very skeptical eye on the European project. For readers who savor well-deserved hatchet jobs, there's a review essay on Norman Davies's "Europe: A History" ("Crimes and Misdemeanors") that leaves Davies without a leg to stand on. Judt's overall sense of there being something of a crisis in international affairs is based on his awareness of the odd combination of US indispensability and irresponsibility -- a combination that makes the US distrusted even by those who want to -- and some who have no choice but to -- work with her. It's sobering stuff -- see "The New World Order" and "Is the UN Doomed?" -- but if there's any reason for hope it is that facts DO change. As a anti-ideologue, he doesn't see particular outcomes as inevitable -- but there are no rose-colored glasses here either. Recommended.
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Janice Joynson
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 January 2016
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Interesting read
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Tiffany Elliott
4.0 out of 5 stars Another great book
Reviewed in the United States on 4 June 2020
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This one, was perhaps, among my favorites. Here, Judt gives a first-ever picture of the Cold War, the utopian (and often failed dreams) of the extreme Left, the dangers of the extreme Right, and why the Bush Doctrine, as well as modern day Zionism, have failed to realize peace in the Middle East. In many ways, it's no exaggeration to say that Judt, through his observations, predicted the world we are experiencing today, from the Financial Crisis of 2008 to Covid of 2020. The conversation between Judt and his (at the time), 16 year-old son, Daniel, is quite fascinating;.holding shades of yet another protest, lead by Greta Thunberg. If you do read this, Daniel, I would say this; your dad is right, but you are, too. And what we are seeing today, has not only been in front of us (as your dad tried much of his life to warn us about), but we can change. It will be long, but the time - as Thomas Piketty often notes - is now.
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A. Carlton
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 May 2018
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I love everything Judt writes. He is such a clear thinker and his humanity shines through.
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Pat Rooney
5.0 out of 5 stars A joy to read.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 February 2016
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A wonderful legacy.
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Paul Elsner
5.0 out of 5 stars Westerner that makes me feel like I am looking in to areas of knowledge that ...
Reviewed in the United States on 11 March 2015
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I had picked up some of his essays in the New York Review of books but this was the first long piece that he left us via his wife's overview of his thorough scholarship and his dedication to perfecting an exquisitely documented and insightful narrative , Which only Tony Judt with his wide and different points of view from his Philosophy, Literary , economic and historical method competencies such a the way he blends the self centered Euro Centric visions with the less appreciated Balkan states'contribiutions ,transformative histories and their forbearance and courage He weaves in George Kennan, Heidegger, Hannah Arendt... Points of view as a U.S. Westerner that makes me feel like I am looking in to areas of knowledge that I can only partially grasp.
Readers who can secure this " When the Facts Change" will experience the deepest of research, scholarship. with his annotated notes and . a treasure for history Majors, geo political studies... Tony Judt, a master at his craft and the multidimensional War and Post and cold war years- I extend gratitude to his wife's prefaced framing of his later years work style and the 1995 -2010 years.
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MMasiA
5.0 out of 5 stars Always Relevant
Reviewed in the United States on 26 January 2022
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Great read! Thank you to the seller for fast shipping and careful packaging.
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NRL
5.0 out of 5 stars An Important Social Democratic and Humanist Voice
Reviewed in the United States on 20 March 2015
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This book is a collection of Tony Judt's later essays, edited and introduced by his widow, dance writer Jennifer Homans. Judt was an excellent historian of twentieth-century Europe, a strong advocate for European style social democracy and an important intellectual critic on many European writers, especially Albert Camus. His was a voice of sanity, compassion and humanism. This collection is especially important in that it includes Judt's later writings on Israel, his advocacy of a bi-national secular state. These essays, which provoked angry responses from many of the more traditional Zionist writers, are especially relevant today and seem to me to offer a vision of a genuinely hopeful if difficult alternative direction for mideast peace.
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J. Lamb
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United States on 22 August 2015
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Much has changed- but then so little. It was a fascinating trip back.
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Terry of Bethlehem, PA
5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST-READ BOOK FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN TODAY'S POLITICAL PROBLEMS!
Reviewed in the United States on 13 October 2015
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I just finished the book, and I can highly recommend it. Anyone who wants to have good survey of the American government, particularly during the Bush II administration, will find these analyses instructive, thought-provoking and ominous in their relevance to today's political situation. And anyone, who wants to find a reasonable solution for the Israel/Palestinians problem MUST read the relevant essays of this book.
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A. Coutinho
5.0 out of 5 stars A sensible compilation of great essays
Reviewed in the United States on 1 March 2015
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Prof Judt writings are always clear and to the point. These characteristics can be appreciated in this collection of essays on many subjects, including a touching discussion with his son. He will be praised for many years to come.
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Bob Mobley
5.0 out of 5 stars Reflecting Through a Different Lenz
Reviewed in the United States on 24 February 2015
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Tony Judt's excellent collection of essays is well worth reading. He makes you sterp back and be reflective about what you think you know and where your "perceptions" are influencing your thought process as seperated from facts.
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happybuyer
5.0 out of 5 stars Mr. Judt's articles on recent history are always stimulating ...
Reviewed in the United States on 22 May 2017
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Mr. Judt's articles on recent history are always stimulating, instructive, and a pleasure to read; the reasonable price of this selection of his essays was especially appealing.
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Kameshwar C. Wali
5.0 out of 5 stars I found these collected essays brilliant. Had strong convictions
Reviewed in the United States on 8 August 2015
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I found these collected essays brilliant. Had strong convictions, but no dogmas. When facts changed, he did not hesitate to change his analysis. Certainly one among the foremost historian of modern times.
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