This Is Europe cover art

This Is Europe

The Way We Live Now

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This Is Europe

By: Ben Judah
Narrated by: Dan Connolly
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About this listen

A Times, Financial Times and Telegraph Book of the Year 2023


What does it now mean to call yourself European? Who makes up this population of some 750 million, sprawled from Ireland to Ukraine, from Sweden to Turkey? Who has always called it home, and who has newly arrived from elsewhere? Who are the people who drive our long-distance lorries, steward our criss-crossing planes, lovingly craft our legacy wines, fish our depleted waters, and risk life itself in search of safety and a new start?

In a series of vivid but always empathetic portraits of other people’s lives, journalist Ben Judah invites us to meet them. Drawn from hours of painstaking interviews, these vital stories reveal a vibrant continent which has been transformed by diversity, migration, the internet, climate change, Covid, war and the quest for freedom.

Laid dramatically bare, it may not always be a Europe we recognize – but this is Europe.

©2023 Ben Judah (P)2023 Macmillan Publishers International Limited Emigration & Immigration Europe Politics & Government Social Classes & Economic Disparity Social Sciences Sociology World

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Critic reviews

'Vivid, urgent and unsettling' - Tom Holland

'Judah paints another Europe with tense and dramatic detail' - Andrey Kurkov

'Will make you lurch between fascination, laughter and tears' - Sophy Roberts
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I wouldn't listen to this one if you are feeling down.
Relentless in a depiction of a grim future for our continent and the people. Whilst many of the stories are fascinating and all are real, as a picture of society in Europe the book might benefit from some balance.
Not tales of the excess the super rich but perhaps a leavening of stories from the centre ground?
The book paints an effective picture of one of the extremes that exist in our society but without a balancing benchmark to anchor the stories against, it becomes less valuable.
I am reading This is London and am interested to learn if it continues in the same dark vein.

Grim but thought provoking

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I really enjoyed listening to each persons story. I loved his first book on London. Brilliant. I want to hear peoples truth, how they talk, what they think. There is a trust with his writing. Ok always read everything he writes.

Really enjoyed this

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I loved This is London and This is Europe is just as good. Amazing, and very affecting stories, about people moving to and within Europe. I can guess but I'd love to hear more about how it connects with his other work on international relations and strategy with the Atlantic Council.
One small thing is that the photos that I really valued in This is London are not available if you have the audiobook, which is a shame.

Another great Ben Judah book

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I loved This Is London so was very excited for this. It didn’t disappoint. Brilliant literary journalism from Ben Judah. Some stories more interesting than others and I did feel overall it the second half was less gripping, but mostly all interesting in their own way and a brilliant insight into different lives in the ‘new Europe’. Felt the Belarus story could have been merged.
Brilliant, clear narration.

Fascinating and moving

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Felt like a privileged insight into various life’s, of the kind of people we see on tv or read about without really knowing

Great follow to life in London

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Little uplifting here and what is insightful, of which there is a lot, is quite hard to grasp.

Not enjoyed

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