Review
One of the many virtues of David Marquand's
The End of the West, a book that carefully documents the gap between the EU's ambitions and its achievements, is that it explains exactly why EU politics are so tedious. . . . [I]t provides a crisp and relevant analysis of the difficult choices that Europe faces. (Henry Farrell
The Nation )
A sweeping new assessment of the continent's drift. . . . (
The Guardian )
[Marquand] the grand old pro-European is on to something when he pokes an inquiring finger into the question of what modern Europe wants to be. . . . [T]his highly readable book offers a compelling description of Europe's modern malaise. (Anne McElvoy
New Statesman )
One of the many virtues of David Marquand's
The End of the West, a book that carefully documents the gap between the EU's ambitions and its achievements, is that it explains exactly why EU politics are so tedious. . . . [A] crisp and relevant analysis of the difficult choices that Europe faces. (Henry Farrell
The Nation )
The End of the West is a bracing and timely work, no doubt about it. (
European Voice )
A committed pro-European's brilliant, timely analysis of what is wrong with the European Union. (Vernon Bogdanor
Times Higher Education Supplement )
The End of the West is a wake-up call. It raises many questions and calls for drastic changes in the EU government. . . . Marquand gives us a concise and brilliant analysis of the failures and weaknesses of the EU. Readable and compact, this book helps us understand the reasons behind the present problems affecting the EU. (
Arab News )
This is a text with compelling questions, not one with definite solutions. What makes it fascinating is the forthright and dispassionate examinations of crucial problems. As Europe faces, in the months and years ahead, the formidable tribulations generated by the global downturn, it is the wider issues delineated in Marquand's
The End of the West that should be probed, examined and argued with. (Donald Sassoon
Political Quarterly )
This brief but trenchant contribution to the vast literature on the European Union stands out through the author's imaginative way of setting the EU's current dilemmas and tribulations firmly in the context of Europe's cultural and historical heritage as a whole. He offers specific solutions only to some of today's huge problems, but in general he indicates most constructively the lines on which solutions should be sought. (Roger Morgan
Times Higher Education )
In this well-written book, Marquand poses several challenges to the leaders of the EU. Realizing that a much weaker European power faces rising major powers in the East, mainly China and India, Marquand encourages European peoples and politicians to critically analyze and come to terms with the major issues that confront them, including Islamophobia, immigration, the resurrection of the old ethnicities, and, above all, their ethnocentrism. (
Choice )
From the Inside Flap
"Positive criticism is always the best criticism. David Marquand's compact but impressively broad-ranging analysis is built on a lifetime of pro-European advocacy. Yet his book displays many deep concerns about the flaws and failings of today's European Union as it ambles complacently toward an uncertain future. Essential reading for all who wish Europe well."--Norman Davies, St. Antony's College, University of Oxford
"David Marquand's brilliant, compact book is essential reading for everyone interested in the strategic outlook for Europe in the emerging new constellation of global powers. And I mean 'everyone'--students, scholars, journalists, business leaders, politicians, and civil servants, in the lands of the old West and new East. With erudition and a light, readable touch, this remarkable book ranges across vast historical and contemporary political horizons."--Michael Emerson, Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
"This exceptionally readable book combines wide, practical political experience with intellectual breadth, and does an excellent job of drawing together the big historical themes that surround the birth, development, and travails of the European Union. Marquand succeeds admirably in showing where Europe might be headed."--David Runciman, author of Political Hypocrisy: The Mask of Power, from Hobbes to Orwell and Beyond
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
