The Last Of Old Europe

A.J.P. Taylor, the man who made television history lectures feel like pub arguments, here turns his attention to the continent that kept him happily grumpy for most of his career: Europe – the “old” one, the one before airports, stag weekends and budget airlines called things like “SkyBargainz”.

The Last of Old Europe (Sidgwick and Jackson, 1976) is Taylor doing what he does best: strolling through history with his hands in his pockets, bumping into emperors, railway timetables and diplomatic blunders, and then telling you, in about three pages, why everyone involved was slightly ridiculous. It’s a book about that peculiar pre-1914 world of Habsburgs, moustaches and railway compartments – a Europe that managed to look impossibly stable right up until the moment it fell over its own alliances.

In these essays, Taylor treats the vanished Europe of emperors and foreign offices the way a sharp-eyed relative talks about the old family – with affection, exasperation and a worrying amount of very specific gossip. He has time for doomed statesmen, forgotten frontiers and the sort of cynical asides that would get most modern politicians quietly disinvited from conferences. If you’ve ever wanted a guided tour of the past led by someone who thinks the tour group is almost as funny as the ruins, this is your book.

This copy comes to you from Crappy Old Books, where Condition: Good means:

• The dust jacket (if still present) has that lived-in look, like a diplomat after a long conference: a bit rubbed at the edges, but still technically in post.

• The boards and spine are holding together with admirable late-imperial determination.

• Pages are lightly tanned, as befits a work reminiscing about a Europe lit mostly by gas and bad decisions.

• Minor bumps, scuffs and other “archival patina” are included at no additional charge.

ISBN: 0283985219, for those who like their nostalgia numerically catalogued.

Add this to your shelf if:

• You suspect the 19th and early 20th centuries were one long, beautifully dressed misunderstanding.

• You enjoy history written by someone who clearly thinks everyone involved should have known better.

• You like the idea of “Old Europe” explained by a man who could turn a footnote into a punchline.

The Last of Old Europe: part obituary, part sly love letter, and part reminder that the good old days were only good if you didn’t look too closely at the map. Conveniently portable, gently timeworn, and ready to grumble charmingly from your bookcase for years to come.

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