A sharp, restless late-90s European novel unpicking the idea that a unified, liberal Europe is not really a possibility.

Tim Parks takes a group of academics, intellectuals and somewhat unbearable cosmopolitans on a train journey across Europe and lets their interactions unravel ego, resentment, nationalism, sexual tension and political performance.

It’s funny in a very dry, mean way. It exposes the vanity of educated people trying to construct moral identities through politics, culture and relationships while remaining fundamentally trapped inside themselves. Underneath the satire there’s also genuine anxiety about what “Europe” even means beyond branding, aspiration and historical guilt.

Shortlisted for the 1997 Booker Prize. Vintage 1998 paperback edition in good condition with light shelf wear and some page toning consistent with age.