Table of Contents

To the Reader

PART ONE | CRISIS

A Crisis of the West

Chapter One • Janus Britain
Putney—Island world, world island — Janus between Europe and America — Four strategies — Churchill and Churchillisms — The Blair bridge project —S o now?

Chapter Two • Europe as Not-America
A Nation is proclaimed — Five hundred million characters in search of an Other — Gaullism versus Churchillism — German emotions — Is Europe better than America? — Euroatlanticism — A power for what?

Chapter Three • America, the Powerful
Inside the giant — A tale of two new Europes — European Americans at work — Unilateralism — War — Return to a new starting point — Partner?

Chapter Four • The New Red Armies
Terror against hope — Near East — Far East — Rich North, poor South — Humans threaten Earth — Together? Crisis as Opportunity

PART TWO | OPPORTUNITY

Twenty Years and a Thousand Million Citizens

Chapter Five • Britain Finds Its Role

Chapter Six • What Europe Can Be

Chapter Seven • Uncle Sam

Chapter Eight • Toward a Free World

What Can We Do?

Afterword to the Vintage Edition
Maps
Free World Web.Net
Notes
Acknowledgments
Index

About the Author

Timothy Garton Ash is the author of seven previous books of political writing and “history of the present,” which have charted the transformation of Europe over the last quarter century. They include The Polish Revolution, The Uses of Adversity, The Magic Lantern, The File, and History of the Present. He is the Professor of European Studies at the University of Oxford, and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. His essays appear regularly in The New York Review of Books, and he writes a column in the Guardian that is syndicated across Europe and the Americas.

Reviews

“A powerful and morally compelling tract, not merely for our times but for the next half-century.” –Los Angeles Times Book Review

“Unlike so much of the current rash of books seeking to make sense of the post-Communist world, Free World is totally engaging. . . . It will be of great use to anyone seeking to make sense of what is going on today.” –The New York Times Book Review

“Fascinating. . . . Eloquent. . . . A model of common-sense reasoning.” –The New York Times

“Stirring. . . . This extraordinarily astute and beautifully written book will take its place as a classic in the field.” –Foreign Affairs

A Great Britain caught between America and its Continental neighbors-on Iraq and much else-commences Ash's look at the 21st-century's strains on relations in the West. As the eminent British scholar and journalist (The File) moves on to the Continent, he echoes several recent critiques of the call for a unified Europe to act as an alternative superpower, citing the "uneven development" of the European Union. He suggests, however, that the European community still has a vital role to play in advocating the spread of freedom around the world, and looks forward to the day when America treats Europeans as "full partners in a common enterprise" in doing so. For Ash, that enterprise is largely economic. He calls for a global "war on want" and urges Western nations to open their borders to trade from developing neighbors; emigrants from undeveloped countries in the Arab world will turn to Europe, he argues, for homes and jobs. He also points to the imminent threat of global warming, which inspires his harshest criticisms of the current American government. The combination of sweeping historical insight with journalistic immediacy, related in Ash's own conversational style, should help this incisive commentary on world affairs stand apart from its competitors. Agent, Georges Borchardt. (On sale Nov. 2) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

"A powerful and morally compelling tract, not merely for our times but for the next half-century." -Los Angeles Times Book Review

"Unlike so much of the current rash of books seeking to make sense of the post-Communist world, Free World is totally engaging. . . . It will be of great use to anyone seeking to make sense of what is going on today." -The New York Times Book Review

"Fascinating. . . . Eloquent. . . . A model of common-sense reasoning." -The New York Times

"Stirring. . . . This extraordinarily astute and beautifully written book will take its place as a classic in the field." -Foreign Affairs