"Europe - where are you?", by Alex Rühle - as exciting as a thriller

Created: 07/11/2022, 18:00

By: Sven Trautwein

Journalist Alex Rühle embarks on a journey through a troubled Europe – by bus and train.

In search of the little stories that hold everything together.

My book tip.

On March 10th, Alex Rühle started his journey across Europe.

Over 20,000 kilometers, numerous border crossings.

A backpack, a laptop and notebook.

In the footsteps of Europe, which is so often invoked but seems to have been forgotten.

His journey lasted until June, beginning in Athens, the cradle of democracy.

Alex Rühle "Europe - Where are you?": About the book

Alex Rühle "Europe - where are you?" Traveling in a troubled continent © dtv

A tremor goes through the world when Alex Rühle embarks on a long tour of the EU: the Ukraine war shifts the entire tectonics of Europe.

What unites and what divides us Europeans?

Armed with an Interrail ticket, rucksack and notepad, Alex Rühle sets off in search of answers.

One thing is clear: the European Union was perhaps the boldest invention in political history – and a great promise.

But what of it is redeemed and arrives out here, in the villages of Calabria, on the Estonian-Russian border, in the old town of Lisbon?

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106 days across Europe, apart from one flight exclusively by bus and train.

The advantage: Gaining impressions of the country that you would otherwise only fly over from above.

The little stories in the book let the reader look deep into a continent that you think you know.

Europe is the greatest political success since 1945.

Alex Ruehle

Crises shake Europe.

During Rühle's trip, Russia starts the Ukraine war.

Everything that has been painstakingly built up over decades suddenly seems small and even more fragile than it already is.

In many other European countries, too, things are simmering subliminally: whether in Hungary, Poland or Bulgaria.

But Alex Rühle is not a doomsayer.

In an interview at the Frankfurt Book Fair, he tells me that he is both an optimist and a pessimist.

Anyone who doesn't believe in a Europe has already lost.

It's the little stories and encounters that touch the heart.

In the desire for a united Europe.

Alex Rühle "Europe - Where are you?": My conclusion

An impressive panorama of a continent.

Written with a smile at times and precise.

Captivating and moving like a thriller.

My very personal reading pearl of the Frankfurt Book Fair.

For everyone who is interested in traveling and still has one or two white spots on the map of Europe.

Alex Rühle "Europe - Where are you?"

Traveling in a troubled continent

2022, dtv ISBN-13 978-3-423-28316-8

Price: Hardcover €25, e-book €19.99, 416 pages (different format) – Order now!

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Alex Ruehle

Alex Rühle, born in 1969, studied literature, philosophy and French in Munich, Berlin and Paris.

He has been working for the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” since 2001, for many years as a culture reporter in the feuilleton, and since autumn 2022 as a Scandinavian correspondent.

Rühle writes non-fiction and children's books and lives with his family in Munich and Stockholm.