Seven memoirs help explain Europe past and present
Their authors are very different, but the continent’s tumultuous history has shaped them all
A GOOD MEMOIR tells you a lot about a person, and even more about the times they lived in. A century of tyranny and war and finally, in some places, of democracy and peace has shaped the lives of all Europeans. Memoirists are among the best chroniclers of that history. Europe’s Sturm und Drang is like a recurring character in the autobiographies of people who themselves will never meet, except on the shelves of libraries and bookshops. As more than 350m people trudge to the polls on June 6th-9th to vote in European elections, what might they read to get a sense of their home, past and present?
From the June 15th 2024 edition
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