Episode Summary
What is the power of historical perspective? How can we learn from the past to reform our society of the future? The late historian Tony Judt reframed the history of the European continent after WWII in his book Postwar. A luminous thinker, he clarified the power of historical perspective for living even ordinary lives. In this final book, written with Timothy Snyder, he traverses the complexities of the twentieth century and guides us through the great debates that made our world.
Participant(s) Bio
Tony Judt is the author or editor of fifteen books, including The Memory Chalet and Postwar, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He was University Professor and New York University and the founder of the Remarque Institute. He died in August 2010 at the age of sixty-two.
Timothy Snyder is Professor of History at Yale University. His most recent book, Bloodlands, was selected as a best book of the year by The Economist, The New Republic, and The Guardian. Four of his previous books have received awards, including the George Louis Beer Prize for The Reconstruction of Nations and the Pro Historia Polonorum for Sketches from a Secret War.
Jonathan Kirsch is the author of 13 books, including The Grand Inquisitor's Manual: A History of Terror in the Name of God; God Against the Gods: The History of the War Between Monotheism and Polytheism; and The Harlot by the Side of the Road: Forbidden Tales of the Bible. His next book, The Exterminating Angel, a biography of a crucial but often overlooked figure in the Jewish resistance to Nazi Germany, will be published in 2012. Kirsch is the book editor of The Jewish Journal, an adjunct professor on the faculty of the Professional Publishing Institute at New York University, and a three-time president of PEN U.S.A.
Timothy Snyder is Professor of History at Yale University. His most recent book, Bloodlands, was selected as a best book of the year by The Economist, The New Republic, and The Guardian. Four of his previous books have received awards, including the George Louis Beer Prize for The Reconstruction of Nations and the Pro Historia Polonorum for Sketches from a Secret War.
Jonathan Kirsch is the author of 13 books, including The Grand Inquisitor's Manual: A History of Terror in the Name of God; God Against the Gods: The History of the War Between Monotheism and Polytheism; and The Harlot by the Side of the Road: Forbidden Tales of the Bible. His next book, The Exterminating Angel, a biography of a crucial but often overlooked figure in the Jewish resistance to Nazi Germany, will be published in 2012. Kirsch is the book editor of The Jewish Journal, an adjunct professor on the faculty of the Professional Publishing Institute at New York University, and a three-time president of PEN U.S.A.
Credits
ALOUD audio is presented by the Library Foundation of Los Angeles and made possible through support provided by The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, the Righteous Persons Foundation, City National Bank, K&L Gates, KPMG, Sue and David Rosenblum, Wallis Foundation, Donna and Martin J. Wolff and The Boudjakdji Foundation. Additional support provided by The Council of the Library Foundation, Library Foundation members, and the Los Angeles Public Library. Media support provided by KPPC 83.9 FM and KUSC 91.5 FM. ALOUD theme composed by Larry Karush.