Popular European Political Books
Find political books written by authors from Europe for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (134)
101.
The Forty Days of Musa Dagh by Franz Werfel EN
Country: Europe / 
Czech Republic
Czech Republic
Description:
Franz Werfel's masterpiece tells the true story of the inhabitants of six Armenian villages on the mountain of Musa Dagh, who choose to defy the deportation order of the Turkish government and are subsequently besieged on the mountainside. Told through the eyes of Gabriel Bagradian, a cosmopolitan Armenian who has returned to his home village with his French wife and son after years living in Europe, the novel is a rich and dramatic epic that powerfully argues for the value of resistance even in impossible circumstances.
102.
The Granddaughter by Bernhard Schlink EN
GermanyDescription:
From the author of the international bestseller The Reader comes this striking and provocative exploration of the legacy of German reunification and the rise of modern populism, witnessed in the story of a grandfather who attempt to connect with his radicalized granddaughter. May 1964. In East Berlin, at a conference sponsored by the Freie Deutsche Jugend, the youth organization of the ruling party of the German Democratic Republic, Birgit meets Kaspar a visiting young scholar from across the wall in West Germany. The pair fall in love, their affair blossoming across bright spring days when an... continue
103.
The Invention of Russia : From Gorbachev's Freedom to Putin's War by Arkady Ostrovsky EN
RussiaDescription:
WINNER OF THE ORWELL PRIZE WINNER OF THE CORNELIUS RYAN AWARD FINALIST FOR THE LIONEL GELBER PRIZE FINANCIAL TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR “Fast-paced and excellently written…much needed, dispassionate and eminently readable.” —New York Times “Filled with sparkling prose and deep analysis.” –The Wall Street Journal The breakup of the Soviet Union was a time of optimism around the world, but Russia today is actively involved in subversive information warfare, manipulating the media to destabilize its enemies. How did a country that embraced freedom and market reform 25 years ago end up as an autocrati... continue
104.
SlovakiaDescription:
Jaded Ondro never would have guessed he could fall in love during a brief layover-until now. In Basel, Switzerland, he meets Jamie, an American living in Scotland who is as brilliant as he is beautiful. Put in a position to offer Jamie comfort without hope of recompense, Ondro catches a glimpse of the home he longs for.
105.
The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz EN
PolandDescription:
'I hope The Long Walk will remain as a memorial to all those who live and die for freedom, and for all those who for many reasons could not speak for themselves' Slavomir Rawicz Slavomir Rawicz was a young Polish cavalry officer. On 19 November 1939 he was arrested by the Russians and after brutal interrogation he was sentenced to twenty-five years in a gulag. After a three-month journey in the dead of winter to Siberia, life in a Soviet labour camp meant enduring hunger, extreme cold, untreated wounds and illnesses and facing the daily risk of arbitrary execution. Realising that to remain mea... continue
106.
The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum, Or, How Violence Develops and where it Can Lead by Heinrich Böll EN
Description:
A "powerful image of innocence betrayed, of measureless evil oozing quietly from regulated, unimpeachable convention" - LJ.
107.
The Man Who Was Thursday by G. K. Chesterton EN
EnglandDescription:
G. K. Chesterton's surreal masterpiece is a psychological thriller that centers on seven anarchists in turn-of-the-century London who call themselves by the names of the days of the week. Chesterton explores the meanings of their disguised identities in what is a fascinating mystery and, ultimately, a spellbinding allegory. As Jonathan Lethem remarks in his Introduction, The real characters are the ideas. Chesterton's nutty agenda is really quite simple: to expose moral relativism and parlor nihilism for the devils he believes them to be. This wouldn't be interesting at all, though, if he didn... continue
108.
IcelandDescription:
Station Eleven and Leave the World Behind by way of The Memory Police, a debut novel of urgent big ideas imbued with pacy plotting and atmospheric power, by an exciting Icelandic literary talent.
109.
The Mountain Wreath by Petar II Petrović Njegoš EN
Country: Europe / 
Montenegro
Montenegro
Description:
The Mountain Wreath (Serbian: Gorski vijenac) is a poem and a play, a masterpiece of Serbian literature, written by Montenegrin Prince-Bishop and poet Petar II Petrovic-Njegos. Njegos wrote The Mountain Wreath during 1846 in Cetinje and published it the following year after the printing in an Armenian monastery in Vienna. It is a modern epic written in verse as a play, thus combining three of the major modes of literary expression. Set in 18th-century Montenegro, the poem deals with attempts of Njegos's ancestor Danilo to regulate relations among the region's warring tribes. Written as a serie... continue
110.
The Nordic Theory of Everything : In Search of a Better Life by Anu Partanen EN
FinlandDescription:
From childcare to healthcare, provision for the elderly and tackling issues of homelessness, the Nordic countries are world leaders in organising society – no wonder Finland has been ranked among the happiest places in the world. But when Finnish journalist Anu Partanen moved to America, she quickly realised that navigating the basics of everyday life was overly complicated compared to how society was organised in her homeland. From the complications of buying a mobile, to the arduous task of filing taxes, she knew there was a better way and as she got to know her new neighbours she discovered... continue