Tony Judt: Reappraisals: Reflections on the Forgotten Twentieth Century (2008, Penguin Books)

Another collection of essays written between 1994 and 2006, mostly book reviews, on scattered subjects, mostly 20th century history, mostly European, by the author of the monumental Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945. Judt was born in London in 1948. He is Jewish; at one point he explains that his family was involved in the Bund, so he grew up Leftist, Marxist, and Anti-Communist. That may also have given him some distance from Zionism, although he mentions that he went to Israel to help out just before the 1968 war, and that he spent some time on a kibbutz. Two essays are more or less critical of Israel, the later essay much more so. He clearly has a great fondness for Anti-Communist intellectuals, with very sympathetic essays here Arthur Koestler and Whittaker Chambers. Several more essays contrast European and American takes on history, especially regarding the sense of social bonds and security nets. Extensive quotes follow.

Given the length of the quotes, just go the permanent book page.