Geert Mak
Tuesday 6 March 2007 21:45-22:30 (Radio 3)
Isabel Hilton talks to Geert Mak, one of Holland's most popular writers, whose book In Europe assesses the state of the continent at the start of the new millennium. Mak's research took a year as he traced the history of Europe from Verdun to Berlin, from St Petersburg to Auschwitz. He spoke to hundreds of citizens, from heads of state to ordinary people.
Playlist
Fiftieth birthdays are generally something to shout about - time for a party and time to get your friends round, but does the same hold true for countries and for continents?
This evening in Night Waves Isabel Hilton will be finding out; she'll be talking to the Dutch journalist and historian, Geert Mak, about his new book - an exploration of what it means to be European fifty years after the signing of the Treaty of Rome.
And, with the cultural commentator, Ekow Eshun and the historians Ivor Agyemean-Duah and Kate Skinner, she'll gauging what fifty years of independence have done for Ghana.
Independence and freedom are notions that often go together and the latter's the theme of the new television series by Adam Curtis, the director of the much lauded Power of Nightmares. He'll be explaining why he believes the West's current notion of individual freedom, born of Cold War paranoia, can be a trap.
And as Tate Britain prepares to unveil its new features with a comprehensive re-hang, the art critic Tim Marlow will be considering what's involved and whether there is such a thing as feng-shui for art galleries.
