European Nationhood, Slowly

DECLINE AND RISE OF EUROPE by John Lukacs. 295 pages. Doubleday. $4.95.

In a sequel to his History of the Cold War, Hungarian-born Historian John Lukacs, 41, poses a paradox worth pondering by the advocates of European unity. A good European, argues Lukacs, must first be a good nationalist; before he can become meaningfully committed to an integrated Europe, he must be emotionally committed to a single European nation. Lukacs shares De Gaulle's suspicion of a federated Europe, advocating instead the Gaullist vision of a loosely linked Europe des patries. Far from urging a return to truculent nationalisms, Lukacs hopefully champions the more temperate patriotism of the Briton, the slowly developed reverence for history and tradition on which any greater society must be constructed.

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