Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 [Paperback]

Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize

Winner of the Council on Foreign Relations Arthur Ross Book Award

One of the New York Times' Ten Best Books of the Year

Almost a decade in the making, this much-anticipated grand history of postwar Europe from one of the world's most esteemed historians and intellectuals is a singular achievement.Postwaris the first modern history that covers all of Europe, both east and west, drawing on research in six languages to sweep readers through thirty-four nations and sixty years of political and cultural change-all in one integrated, enthralling narrative. Both intellectually ambitious and compelling to read, thrilling in its scope and delightful in its small details,Postwaris a rare joy.

Part One: Post-War: 1945-1953

I. The Legacy of War
II. Retribution
III. The Rehabilitation of Europe
IV. The Impossible Settlement
V. The Coming of the Cold War
VI. Into the Whirlwind
VII. Culture Wars
Coda. The End of Old Europe

Part Two: Prosperity and Its Discontents: 1953-1971

VIII. The Politics of Stability
IX. Lost Illusions
X. The Age of Affluence
XI. The Social Democratic Hour
XII. The Spectre of Revolution
XIII. The End of the Affair

Part Three: Recessional: 1971-1989

XIV. Diminished Expectations
XV. Politics in a New Key
XVI. A Time of Transition
XVII. The New Realism
XVIII. The Power of the Powerless
XIX. The End of the Old Order

Part Four: After the Fall: 1989-2005

XX. A Fissile Continent
XXI. The Reckoning
XXII. The Old Europe—:and the New
XXIII. The Varieties of Europe
XXIV. Europe as a Way of Life

Epilogue
From the House of the Dead: An Essay on Modern European Memory

Index