Close Modal

Thinking the Twentieth Century

Author Tony Judt
Contributions by Timothy Snyder
Look inside
Paperback
$24.00 US
5.45"W x 8.34"H x 0.95"D   | 13 oz | 36 per carton
On sale Jan 29, 2013 | 432 Pages | 9780143123040

"Ideas crackle" in this triumphant final book of Tony Judt, taking readers on "a wild ride through the ideological currents and shoals of 20th century thought.” (Los Angeles Times)

One of our most brilliant historians, Tony Judt brings the past century vividly to life in this unprecedented and original history. Structured as a series of intimate conversations between Judt and his friend and fellow historian Timothy Snyder, Thinking the Twentieth Century presents the triumphs and the failures of the twentieth century's most prominent intellectuals and their ideas, guiding readers through the debates that defined our world. Spanning an era with unprecedented clarity and insight, Thinking the Twentieth Century is a tour de force: a masterful analysis of the life of the mind and an unforgettable guide to leading the mindful life.

  • WINNER
    American Academy of Arts and Letters Lit. Award
“There are so many ways that Thinking the Twentieth Century is a remarkable book. The lifetime of scholarship and intellectual engagement lying behind that verb "thinking" in the title. The way ideas crackle in the interplay between the authors. The passionate involvement with issues political and controversial. That the book could have been written at all, given the tragic circumstances surrounding it . . . Judt proceeds to take the reader on a wild ride through the ideological currents and shoals of 20th century thought." The Los Angeles Times

“An intellectual feast, learned, lucid, challenging and accessible.” San Francisco Chronicle

“Fans will find plenty to sustain them in this poignant coda to a life marked by great feats of penmanship, scholarly insight and contemporary polemic . . . [Judt’s] bravery is ever-present, but rightly understated. As Mr Snyder notes in his introduction, the book is both about the life of the mind and a mindful life. Judt exemplified both.” The Economist

“Judt was a provocateur, but maybe an accidental one, and after reading this remarkable, impassioned book, it's hard to doubt his sincerity . . . Thinking the Twentieth Century is Judt's final salvo against what he saw as a culture of historical ignorance and political apathy, and it's every bit as brilliant, uncompromising and original as he was.” —NPR

“Scintillating . . . a lively, browsable, deeply satisfying meditation on recent history by a deservedly celebrated public intellectual.” Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Incandescent on every page with intellectual energy.” —Pankaj Mishra, Prospect Magazine (UK)



© John R. Rifkin

Tony Judt (1948-2010) was educated at King’s College, Cambridge, and l’École Normale Supérieure, Paris, and taught at Cambridge, Oxford, and Berkeley. He was the Erich Maria Remarque Professor of European Studies at New 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, When the Facts Change (edited by Jennifer Homans), Reappraisals, and Postwar, which was one of The New York Times Book Review’s 10 Best Books of 2005 and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

View titles by Tony Judt

About

"Ideas crackle" in this triumphant final book of Tony Judt, taking readers on "a wild ride through the ideological currents and shoals of 20th century thought.” (Los Angeles Times)

One of our most brilliant historians, Tony Judt brings the past century vividly to life in this unprecedented and original history. Structured as a series of intimate conversations between Judt and his friend and fellow historian Timothy Snyder, Thinking the Twentieth Century presents the triumphs and the failures of the twentieth century's most prominent intellectuals and their ideas, guiding readers through the debates that defined our world. Spanning an era with unprecedented clarity and insight, Thinking the Twentieth Century is a tour de force: a masterful analysis of the life of the mind and an unforgettable guide to leading the mindful life.

Awards

  • WINNER
    American Academy of Arts and Letters Lit. Award

Praise

“There are so many ways that Thinking the Twentieth Century is a remarkable book. The lifetime of scholarship and intellectual engagement lying behind that verb "thinking" in the title. The way ideas crackle in the interplay between the authors. The passionate involvement with issues political and controversial. That the book could have been written at all, given the tragic circumstances surrounding it . . . Judt proceeds to take the reader on a wild ride through the ideological currents and shoals of 20th century thought." The Los Angeles Times

“An intellectual feast, learned, lucid, challenging and accessible.” San Francisco Chronicle

“Fans will find plenty to sustain them in this poignant coda to a life marked by great feats of penmanship, scholarly insight and contemporary polemic . . . [Judt’s] bravery is ever-present, but rightly understated. As Mr Snyder notes in his introduction, the book is both about the life of the mind and a mindful life. Judt exemplified both.” The Economist

“Judt was a provocateur, but maybe an accidental one, and after reading this remarkable, impassioned book, it's hard to doubt his sincerity . . . Thinking the Twentieth Century is Judt's final salvo against what he saw as a culture of historical ignorance and political apathy, and it's every bit as brilliant, uncompromising and original as he was.” —NPR

“Scintillating . . . a lively, browsable, deeply satisfying meditation on recent history by a deservedly celebrated public intellectual.” Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Incandescent on every page with intellectual energy.” —Pankaj Mishra, Prospect Magazine (UK)



Author

© John R. Rifkin

Tony Judt (1948-2010) was educated at King’s College, Cambridge, and l’École Normale Supérieure, Paris, and taught at Cambridge, Oxford, and Berkeley. He was the Erich Maria Remarque Professor of European Studies at New 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, When the Facts Change (edited by Jennifer Homans), Reappraisals, and Postwar, which was one of The New York Times Book Review’s 10 Best Books of 2005 and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

View titles by Tony Judt