Europe is endless. So is Tony Judt’s great book about postwar Europe.
It tells the story of how much of Europe rebuilt itself after a devastating war, gradually restoring democracy, economic growth, independence, equality and the foundations of the welfare state.
At the same time, another Europe remained behind the Iron Curtain, where millions lived under authoritarian rule. The story of postwar Europe is therefore also the story of a divided continent, and of the long struggle for those in the East to regain freedom and reconnect with the rest of Europe.
A remarkable book about how the Europe we know today was rebuilt, defended and eventually reunited.
One of the greatest civilizations mankind has ever seen.
As I was about to open a Spätburgunder from Wiesbaden, my attention was unexpectedly drawn to the fleur-de-lis on the bottle cap.
The fleur-de-lis has long stood as a symbol of European civilization: freedom of conscience, freedom of speech, equality before the law, and democracy shaped by responsibility.
At the same moment, another voice entered my thoughts, that of Martin Luther King Jr. In one of his reflections, he imagines being summoned before the Almighty and offered a remarkable choice: to visit any civilization in history. He mentally travels through ancient empires, Greece with its intellect, Rome with its power, and the Renaissance with its brilliance, the very framework of the civilization we know today.
After this reflection, the wine, through its fleur-de-lis symbol, set the theme of the evening: civilization and our shared heritage.
