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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 327.730409045
Format: Bargain Price
Label: Penguin Press HC, The
Manufacturer: Penguin Press HC, The
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 320
Printing Date: November 04, 2004
Publishing house: Penguin Press HC, The
Sale Popularity Level: 58331
Studio: Penguin Press HC, The
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Product Description:
How did Europe become a superpower while America wasn't paying attention? Here, American journalist T. R. Reid takes an enlightening tour of the United States of Europe' - the borderless collection of countries with more people and wealth than America. With his trademark wit and wisdom he explains the often-bewildering ins and outs of the European Union and the culture its nations have come to share - from the common pastime of America bashing and the kitsch joys of the Eurovision Song Contest to the skyrocketing sucess of the Euro, trouncing the once-mighty dollar in strength. And he tells many individual stories of this drama, including the astonishing takeover of all-American products by European companies, the English greengrocer who became a Metric Martyr' and of the new breed of twenty and thirty-somethings known as 'Generation E'. Essential for readers on both sides of the Atlantic, The United States of Europe is an insightful and entertaining guide to a New Europe that now makes the world's rules, whether America likes it or not
Amazon.com Review:
While the United States flexes its economic and military muscles around the world as the dominant global player, it may soon have company. According to the Washington Post's T.R. Reid, the nations of Europe are setting aside differences to form an entity that's gaining strength, all seemingly unbeknownst to the U.S. and its citizens. The new Europe, Reid says, 'has more people, more wealth, and more trade than the United States of America,' plus more leverage gained through membership in international organizations and generous foreign aid policies that reap political clout. Reid tells how European countries were willing to discontinue their individual centuries-old currencies and adopt the Euro, the monetary unit that is now a dominant force in world markets. This is noteworthy not just for exploring the considerable economic impact of the Euro, but also for what that spirit of cooperation means for every facet of Europe in the 21st century, where governments and citizens alike believe that the rewards of banding together are worth a loss in sovereignty. Reid's most compelling portrait of this trend is in the young Europeans known as 'Generation E' who see themselves not as Spaniards or Czechs but simply as Europeans. To illustrate America's obliviousness to this trend, Reid tells of former GE CEO Jack Welch, who never bothered to factor European objections into a proposed multi-billion dollar merger with Honeywell, leading to the deal being torpedoed and Welch disgraced. But what is most striking in The United States of Europe is the contrast between the new Europe and the United States. The Europeans cannot match the raw military size of the U.S., but by mixing wealth with diplomacy and continental unity (helped along by antipathy toward George W. Bush's brand of Americanism), they are forming an innovative and powerful superpower. --John Moe
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Rated by buyers 
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The book I received was in better condition than the report said. It was sent in a timely manner.
Rated by buyers 
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T. R. Reid's 'The United States of Europe' is a surprisingly entertaining read, considering it deals with something as boring as the European Union. Unfortunately, in my reading of it, I found so many factual errors and over-generalizations that I cannot recommend it as an introduction to the EU. That's ironic, since it's clearly meant as an introduction.
Let me give a few examples:
"The citizens of the EU use a standard license plate, birth certificate and passport (although each country still gets to pick its preferred passport color: a blue cover for Britain, dark blue for Poland and of course purple for Ireland)." There is an EU license plate, but not every country has implemented them. As far as I know there is no EU birth certificate (it's certainly not implemented in most countries) and all new EU passports have burgundy colored covers.
"The Swedish referendum on the euro had a tragic outcome: the nation's foreign minister, Anna Lindh, campaigning hard for the pro-euro side, was approached a few days before the election by a disheveled man with a dagger in hand. He stabbed her repeatedly, and she died a few hours later. Police later arrested a suspect, but were never able to determine the exact relationship between the euro campaign and this lethal assault." That's because there was no link between the murder and the campaign. The murderer was a mentally disturbed man who is now serving a life sentence in a Swedish prison.
"Since every major European airport has a big train station in the basement of the terminal, Euro-travelers can jump off the plane and straight onto the TGV train to complete the journey." Since TGV trains mainly operate in France (with 1 line going to London, 1 to Germany and 1 going through Belgium, Netherlands and into Germany) riding the TGV from an airport cannot be said to be a general option for most Euro-travelers.
"You can get a 'Danish' in Denmark, but no Dane ever calls it a Danish pastry. In fact no Europeans use that term, except for TV-comedians making fun of Americans. In Denmark, and in most of Europe, that breakfast pastry is generally called Wienerbrod, or 'Vienna bread.'" In Britain and Ireland it's called a Danish, in Germany and Austria it's called a 'Kopenhagener'. That's a big chunk of the EU.
Reid several times writes about both Switzerland and Norway as if they're EU-member states, even though they're not, and he tries to give the impression that all of Europe celebrates May 9th ('Europe Day') like another Fourth of July, even though all Europeans I know are completely unaware the day is even celebrated!
Factual errors and overgeneralizations like these mar the book throughout and give readers a wrong impression of how things really are in Europe. That's a shame, since Reid clearly has a talent for writing about the EU in an entertaining way.
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This is an excellent introduction to the European Union, but I fear that Reid exagerrates a bit. The EU is certainly powerful and many of its principles excellent, but Reid seems a little biased in its favor. There are also a few tedious chapters (Do we really need to know THAT much about Jack Welch or Eurovision?), but overall this book is a great read if you'd like to learn about the EU.
Rated by buyers 
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I am PhD student of European Integration and how it has changed Europe's relations with the America. This book is a misguiding piece of literature. The general thesis is that American super-power will be squelched by European soft power. While it is well-written and does illuminate some provocative aspects of European-American relations, it ignores the reality that Europe is finds it difficult to integrate with itself (e.g. Constitution 2004, Bolkestein Directive, Lisbon Treaty Post-Irish Referenda, Free Movement of People). Look, to conclude that Europe is a single bloc politically is absurd. Ask the British, the Danes, the Swedes, the Poles, and any other Euroskeptic state. Europe is an economic idea - not political. This is not to say that it won't be, but Reid assumes it already is.
A better, more objecetive, historical account of integration is Dinan's 'Europe Recast'. Read that, toss this.
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Having lived in Europe for 7 months, I found this book to be very resourceful. It covers a wide range of topics from political and industrial development, to Eurovision and the younger generation.
One chapter seemed to ramble a bit about the details of the life of an American CEO, but nothing too distracting. I wish the author would discuss more about the role of India and China as future competitors with the European Union and not just America. Either way, I couldn't put this book down. An enjoyable, informative social read.
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