Theatercollege: Geert Mak
In 2004, In Europe was published. It was the account of Mak's journey through Europe, as commissioned by the newspaper NRC Handelsblad. The book was a huge success as soon as it was released. It was even voted Book of the Year. More than 500,000 copies have since been sold and the rights were sold to 14 countries. Translations of the book were available in Paris, New York and Berlin bookshops and were praised abroad as much as at home. Three years after the publication of In Europe, television channel VPRO broadcast 35 episodes of the eponymous documentary. In Dutch libraries, In Europe is the most frequently borrowed book.
Run time tba
Genre Perspective
Language Dutch
The recent history of Europe - And Ukraine and Gaza in particular
This lecture is about Europe, and in particular the war in Ukraine and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Europe is moving from conflict to conflict. In the opinion of Geert Mak, this is a defining moment in European history. The European defence system is in jeopardy. Russia is being bombarded with sanctions, NATO is on edge, Ukraine is receiving Western weapons on a large scale, Germany is putting all its energy into building an effective military, and other European countries are boosting their defence budgets as well. It looks to be a perfect storm: a profound crisis involving our national defence, an unprecedented refugee crisis, a severe energy crisis, a growing climate crisis, an economic crisis and, on top of that, a severe food crisis.
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Geert Mak openly questions: where did Europe go wrong? According to him, Europe is in a complicated transition phase; he explains why this is the case and what Europe needs to do to recover.
After the lecture, there will be a meet & greet with Geert Mak.
About Geert Mak
Geert Mak is a writer and historian. In 1992, he broke through to wider audiences with his novel The angel of Amsterdam. This was followed by bestsellers such as Island in Time (1996), De eeuw van mijn vader (1999), The Bridge (Book Week Gift of 2007), In America. Travels with John Steinbeck (2012) and The many lives of Jan Six (2016).
November 2019 saw the publication of his book The dream of Europe, the long-awaited sequel to In Europe. In this book, he narrates and explains the recent history of Europe as only he can. The prestigious Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Berlin named the book Political Book of the Year. The Belgian University of Leuven awarded him the medal of honour in May 2022 for his achievements in bringing history to life in his books.
In late 2017, Geert Mak received the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Prize from Queen Maxima for his oeuvre. Mathijs van Nieuwkerk described him on the television programme De Wereld Draait Door as the best history teacher one could wish for.
