The Europeans [Hardcover]

Luigi Barzini (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1983

A writing that expresses great passion, by a major author. This writing shows enlightenment and is both sobering as well as entertaining.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 267 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (May 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671245783
• ISBN-13: 978-0671245788
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,663,281 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Engaging and informative, March 20, 2002

By 

"grimss" (Jacksonville, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Europeans (Mass Market Paperback)

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 Even so, and despite being twenty years out of date, the insights in this book shed light on international matters today.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.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Still True Today., February 26, 2006

By 

SUPPORT THE ASPCA. "PILUM THROWER!" (?????) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Europeans (Mass Market Paperback)

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.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most insightful books ever written, January 5, 2007

By 

Rolfe Jones "Rolfe H" (Los Angeles CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Europeans (Mass Market Paperback)

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.