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Postwar
A History of Europe Since 1945
First published 2005 · 1055 pages
A magisterial, sweeping journey through the ashes of a shattered continent as it painstakingly rebuilds its identity and its borders.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like standing on a high vantage point watching a shattered continent slowly piece itself back together. It is a steady, magisterial experience that demands your time but rewards it with profound clarity. The prose is elegant and incisive, carrying you through decades of political tension, cultural rebirth, and collective trauma with a deeply humane, analytical voice. You are immersed in a contemplative, sometimes somber atmosphere where the ghosts of the past constantly brush up against the ambitions of the future. It is perfect for the intellectually ravenous reader who wants to feel the weight of history and understand the complex, fragile tapestry of modern identity forged in the crucible of war.
- Mood
- sweeping
- contemplative
- somber
- intellectually rigorous
- Tone
- authoritative
- elegiac
- analytical
- humane
- incisive
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- the shadow of war · memory and forgetting · the fragility of democracy · cultural rebirth · mythmaking of nations
- The writing
- Elegant, lucid, and magisterial, balancing grand historical synthesis with sharp, memorable aphorisms.
- The arc
- Moves from the devastating ruins and trauma of the immediate postwar years through a tense recovery, culminating in a cautious reflection on modern identity.
- Who it's for
- Intellectually curious readers who crave deep, comprehensive narratives that connect political events to cultural and social shifts.
Content notes
- war trauma
- Holocaust references
- political violence
- mass displacement
About the book
The first truly European history of contemporary Europe, from Lisbon to Leningrad, based on research in six languages, covering 34 countries across 60 years, using a great deal of material from newly available sources. The book integrates international relations, domestic politics, ideas, social change, economic development, and culture--high and low--into a single grand narrative. Every country has its chance to play the lead, and although the big themes are handled--including the cold war, the love/hate relationship with America, cultural and economic malaise and rebirth, and the myth and reality of unification--none of them is allowed to overshadow the rich pageant that is the whole.--From publisher description.
Description from Open Library.
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