Tony Judt 1948 - 2010

Tony Judt, the great and controversial historian of post-war Europe, advocate of social democracy, and for peace and justice in the Mid-East is dead from Lou Gehrig's disease.

“The historian’s task is not to disrupt for the sake of it, but it is to tell what is almost always an uncomfortable story and explain why the discomfort is part of the truth we need to live well and live properly. A well-organized society is one in which we know the truth about ourselves collectively, not one in which we tell pleasant lies about ourselves.”