(Europeana. A Brief History of the Twentieth Century)
Book of the Year 2001
“Top Shelf 2005: Europeana, one of our 25 favorite books.”
— The Village Voice (USA)
“An original booklet that is as funny as it is relentless.”
— Süddeutsche Zeitung

About the Book
Original Title | Europeana – Stručné dějiny dvacátého věku |
First Published | 2001 |
Publisher | Paseka, Prague |
Rerelease | 2012 |
Publisher | Volvox Globator, Prague |
Pages | 128 |
Rights Sold
France | Allia – Paris |
Hungary | Kalligram – Budapest |
The Netherlands | Fagel – Amsterdam / IJzer – Utrecht |
Austria | Czernin – Vienna |
Poland | Fundacja Pogranicze – Sejny |
Serbia | B92 Publishers – Belgrade |
United States | Dalkey – Chicago |
Sweden | Natur och kultur – Stockholm / Apsekt – Vallentuna |
Bulgaria | Faakel – Sofia |
Lithuania | Apostrofa – Vilnius |
Spain | Tropismos – Salamanca |
Greece | Kedros – Athens |
Italy | Duepunti Edizione – Palermo / Quodlibet – Macerata |
Israel | Xargol – Tel Aviv |
Slovenia | Borec – Ljubljana |
Croatia | Profil International – Zagreb |
Denmark | Gyldendal – Kopenhagen |
Turkey | Dost Kitabevi – Ankara |
Russia | Limbakh – St. Petersburg |
Georgia | Pegasus – Tibilisi |
Egypt | Al Arabi – Cairo |
Japan | Hakusui-sha – Tokyo |
Romania | Vremea – Bucharest |
Norway | Bokvennen – Oslo |
Slovakia | Premedia – Bratislava |
Korea | The Open Books Co – Paju Book City |
Ukraine | Old Lion – Lviv |
Latvia | Petergailis – Riga |
Belarus | Lohvinau – Minsk/Vilnius |
North Macedonia | Templum – Skopje |
Albania | Ombra gvg – Tirana |
Estonia | Loomingu Raamatukogu – Talinn |
Portugal | Antigona – Lisboa |
Taiwan | Domain Publishing – Taipei City |
Finland | Siltala Publishers – Helsinki |
Philippines | Czech emnbassy – Manila |
Armenia | Vogi-Nairi – Yerevan |
Stage Rights Sold (Selection)
Dutch | Zuidpool, Antverp |
English/German | The Artangel Trust, London |
English | Royal Shakespeare Company, London |
German | Schauspiel Stuttgart |
Italian | Associazione Culturale Sotterraneo, Florence |
Italian | Associazione Mittelfest, Cividale del Friuli |
Swedish | Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern |
Finnish | Nordic Drama Corner Oy |
English/German | PLAN B, Hamburg |
Tracing the Great War through the Millennium Bug, 1999 through 1900, Dadaism through Scientology through Sierra Leonean bicycle riding and back, award-winning Czech author Patrik Ourednik explores the horror and absurdity of the twentieth century in an explosive deconstruction of historical memory.
Europeana: A Brief History of the Twentieth Century opens on the beaches of Normandy in 1944, comparing the heights of different forces’ soldiers and considering how tall, long, or good at fertilizing fields the men’s bodies will be. Probing the depths of humanity and inhumanity, this is an account of history as it has never been told: “engaging, even frightening.” At once recreating and uncreating the twentieth century, Ourednik explores the connections across the decades between the disparate figures, events, and politics we thought we knew.
Patrik Ourednik’s Europeana merits the author’s reputation as a giant of post-1989 Czech literature. Now translated into 37 languages, the book is a masterwork of cubism, a polymorphic monologue of statistics and movements and fine print and discoveries that evokes the deadpan absurdity of Kafka and the gallows humor of Hašek. Ourednik has created a mesmerizing, maddening account of the past, and his interrogation of “truth” and objectivity resonates now more than ever.
“Enthralled by matters of language, Ouředník offers a burlesque vision of the history of contemporary Europe, combining the tragic aspect of the situation with anecdotal facts that stress the absurdity of the twentieth century.”
— Le Temps
“Heir of Kafka and of the good soldier Svejk, Ouředník takes advantage of the interval between facts of an irrefutable precision to create summaries as disconcerting as they are pre-emptory.”
— Radio France
“Ouředník’s idea is brilliant: in order to draw the map of this century and decide on the most important events, he simply presents in a jumble hundreds of historical facts ranging from trifling anecdotes to crucial statistics… Europeana reads like a frenzied encyclopaedic compression of thousands of history books; it’s cleverly constructed and more subjective than it first appears… Laughs guaranteed, uneasiness probable, impressions strong: in short a great book.”
— Chronic’art
Translations


































Europeana. Eine kurze Geschichte Europas im zwanzigsten Jahrhundert
Czernin Verlag, Wien, 2003, 2005, 2019
Translated by Michael Stavarić
Europeana. Kratka istorija dvadesatog veka
B92, Belgrade, 2003, 2006.
Translated by Iva Plešingerova
Europeana. Een zeer korte geschiedenis van de twintigste eeuw
Fagel, Amsterdam, 2003
IJzer, Utrecht, 2012
Translated by Edgar de Bruin
Europeana. A huszadik század rövid története
Kalligram, Budapest, 2003, 2006, 2009
Translated by G. Kovács László
Europeana. Кратка история на XX век
Faakel, Sofia, 2003, 2005
Translated by Yordanka Trifonova
Europeana. Une brève histoire du XXe siècle
Allia, Paris, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015
Translated by Marianne Canavaggio
Europeana. Trumpa dvidešimto amžiaus istorija
Apostrofa, Vilnius, 2004
Knygute, Vlinius, 2012
Translated by Almis Grybauskas
Europeana. Zwiezla historia XX wieku
Fundacja Pogranicze, Sejny, 2004
Translated by Jan Stachowski
Europeana. Una breve historia del siglo XX
Tropismos, Salamanca, 2005
Translated by Kepa Uharte
Europeana. A Brief History of the Twentieth Century
Dalkey Archive, Chicago, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2024
Translated by Gerald Turner
Europeana: Μια συνοπτική ιστορία της Ευρώπης του εικοστού αιώνα
Kedros, Athens, 2005
Europeana. Kortfattad historia om nittonhundratalet
Natur och Kultur, Stockholm, 2005
Aspekt, Vallentuna, 2018
Translated by Mats Larsson
Evropeana. Kratka zgodovina 20. stoletja
Borec, Ljubljana, 2005, 2011
Translated by Andrej Rozman
Europeana. Breve storia del XX secolo
Duepunti, Palermo, 2005, 2009, 2011
Quodlibet, Macerata, 2017
Translated by Andrea Libero Carbone
Европеана. Kраткая история двадцатого века
Limbakh, St. Petersburg, 2006
Translated by Jekatarina Bobrakova-Timosjkina
Europeana. Kratka povijest dvadesetog stoljeca
Profil, Zagreb, 2006, 2012
Translated by Branka Čačkovic
Europeana. Yirminci Yüzyılın Kısa Tarihi
Dost, Ankara , 2006
Translated by Ismet Birkan
Еўрапеана. Кароткі нарыс гісторыі дваццатага стагоддзя
Arche, Minsk, 2006
Lohvinau, Minsk/Vilnius 2015, 2023
Translated by Julia Smatryčenka
אירופיאנה: 20 המאה תולדות קיצור
Xargol, Tel Aviv, 2006
Translated by Ruth Bondi
Europæana. En kort historie om det 20. århundrede
Gyldendal, Kopenhagen, 2007
Translated by Niels Lyngsø
ევროპეანა. მეოცე საუკუნის მოკლე ისტორია
Pegasus, Tibilisi, 2009
Translated by Giuli Lezjava
Europeana. O scurtă istorie a secolului douăzeci
Vremea, Bucharest, 2014
Translated by Helliana Ianculescu
اوروبيانا مختصر تاريخ القر العشرين,
Al Arabi, Cairo, 2014
Translated by Khalid El Biltagi
エウロペアナ 二〇世紀史概説
Hakusui-sha, Tokyo, 2014.
Translated by Kenichi Abe
Europeana. Īsa divdesmitā gadsimta vēsture
Petergailis, Riga, 2015.
Translated by Zita Zaca
شهرفرنگ اروپا. چکیدهای از پیدا و پنهان تاریخ قرن بیستم
Nasher Mahi, Tehran, 2015, 2016, 2019
Translated by Khashayar Dayhimi
Євпропеана. Kopotka ictopiя dbaдцяtoгo ctoлittя,
Old Lion Lviv, 2015.
Translated by Alexej Sevruk
Europeana. Stručné dejiny dvadsiateho storočia
Premedia, Bratislava, 2014, 2016
Translated by Miroslav Dacho
Europeana. Det tjuende århundrets historie i korte trekk
Bokvennen, Oslo, 2015, 2016
Translated by Kirstin Kilsti
Europeana. 2시간에 읽는 20세기 유럽역사
Open Books, Paju Book City, 2016.
Translated by Bora Chung
Европеана. Кратка историja на дваеceпиoт век
Templum, Skopje, 2016
Translated by Margareta Karajanova
Europeana – Një histori e shkurtër e shekullit të XX
Ombra gvg, Tirana, 2017.
Translated by Elona Kodhel
Europeana. Uma Breve História do Século XX
Antígona, Lisboa, 2017
Translated by Lumir Nahodil
Europeana. Kahekümnenda sajandi lühiajalugu
Loomingu Raamatukogu, Tallinn, 2018.
Translated by Küllike Tohver
Europeana. 20世紀極簡歐洲史
Domain Publishing, Taipei, 2018
Translated by Liao Huanwei
Europeana. 20. vuosisadan lyhyt historia
Helsinki, Siltala, 2022.
Translated by Eero Balki