The Dream of Europe

In 1999, Geert Mak spent a year criss-crossing Europe, looking to define the continent on the verge of a new millennium. The result was his monumental book In Europe.

Great Expectations focuses on the first two turbulent decades of our current century, taking in the rocky EU expansion into eastern Europe and the rise of Putin; the aftermath of 9/11 and terrorist attacks across Europe; the migrant tragedy in the Mediterranean; the 2008 financial crash; the rise of right-wing populism; and Brexit.

Mak sketches the climate and mood at the turn of the century, the optimism that reigned but vanished along the way in the great European project. Above all, Mak is an observer, endlessly curious to learn how seismic political and cultural shifts effect people's lives.