One of the brightest European historians in an unprecedented discussion about the past and the future worth fighting for, for the life of thought and the thinking life.

Articulated as a series of personal conversations between Tony Judt and his friend, colleague, and student Timothy Snyder, the book presents the triumphs and failures of the most prominent intellectuals of the twentieth century and the conflicts that have marked our world. Interweaving autobiographical sketches with free-flowing discussions about history, politics, and culture, it reexamines the impact of the two world wars and the Great Depression on politics and philosophy. The development and competition between communist and fascist doctrines. The efforts of social democracy and Keynesian economics to bring liberal governance, broad-based development, and social equality to the post-war world. and the retreat of these achievements in the face of the attack of free market fundamentalism against the active state. Whether talking about the religious dimensions of Marxism and Freudianism or about Obama and the war in Iraq, Judt's ability to infuse tones of erudition into clear, robust conversations, even when breathing with mechanical support, is unparalleled.