Tony Judt dies at 62; leading historian of postwar Europe

Tony Judt, a leading historian of postwar Europe and outspoken political essayist who also wrote movingly about his struggle with Lou Gehrig's disease, has died. He was 62. Judt, who was a history professor at New York University, died Friday at his home in Manhattan of complications from the disease, the university announced. In 2005, his career reached its zenith with the publication of "Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945," a hefty book that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Writing in the New Yorker, intellectual historian Louis Menand called Judt's scope "virtually superhuman." Critics considered the tome a masterful account of Europe's recovery from the wreckage of World War II. The New York Times Book Review named it one of the 10 best books of 2005, and last year the Toronto Star called it the best historical book of the decade. "Postwar" was "perhaps the most astonishing feat of synthesis ever achieved," the Star said, as Judt "managed to weave every country and every major political and cultural trend into a seamless narrative."