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 “Impressive . . . Mr. Judt writes with enormous authority.” —The Wall Street Journal “Magisterial . . . It is, without a doubt, the most comprehensive, authoritative, and yes, readable postwar history.” —The Boston Globe 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. Postwar is 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, Postwar is a rare joy. Judt's book, Ill Fares the Land, republished in 2021 featuring a new preface by bestselling author of Between the World and Me and The Water Dancer, Ta-Nehisi Coates.

Taking a thematic approach, Derek Urwin addresses the major political and economic developments in western Europe since World War II, right up to the present day. The book covers issues and developments in national politics, and the movement towards greater unity in Western Europe and the role of Europe in global politics and in the international economy. The text has been revised throughout and updated to take account of the political consequences of the ending of the Cold War and the troubled progress of European integration since Maastricht. The Fifth Edition has lost nothing of its predecessor's clarity and accessibility and in its updated form will win the book a host of new admirers.

The presentation of Europe's immediate historical past has quite dramatically changed. Conventional depictions of occupation and collaboration in World War II, of wartime resistance and post-war renewal, provided the familiar backdrop against which the chronicle of post-war Europe has mostly been told. Within these often ritualistic presentations, it was possible to conceal the fact that not only were the majority of people in Hitler's Europe not resistance fighters but millions actively co-operated with and many millions more rather easily accommodated to Nazi rule. Moreover, after the war, those who judged former collaborators were sometimes themselves former collaborators. Many people became innocent victims of retribution, while others--among them notorious war criminals--escaped punishment. Nonetheless, the process of retribution was not useless but rather a historically unique effort to purify the continent of the many sins Europeans had committed. This book sheds light on the collective amnesia that overtook European governments and peoples regarding their own responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity--an amnesia that has only recently begun to dissipate as a result of often painful searching across the continent. In inspiring essays, a group of internationally renowned scholars unravels the moral and political choices facing European governments in the war's aftermath: how to punish the guilty, how to decide who was guilty of what, how to convert often unspeakable and conflicted war experiences and memories into serviceable, even uplifting accounts of national history. In short, these scholars explore how the drama of the immediate past was (and was not) successfully "overcome." Through their comparative and transnational emphasis, they also illuminate the division between eastern and western Europe, locating its origins both in the war and in post-war domestic and international affairs. Here, as in their discussion of collaborators' trials, the authors lay bare the roots of the many unresolved and painful memories clouding present-day Europe. Contributors are Brad Abrams, Martin Conway, Sarah Farmer, Luc Huyse, László Karsai, Mark Mazower, and Peter Romijn, as well as the editors. Taken separately, their essays are significant contributions to the contemporary history of several European countries. Taken together, they represent an original and pathbreaking account of a formative moment in the shaping of Europe at the dawn of a new millennium.

Rebirth: A History of Europe Since World War II examines the transition of Europe from a period of crisis to an era of political confidence and economic strength. As the title suggests, the pervasive theme of the book is that of rebirth. The most recent decades are set in the context of modern European history as a whole. The authors trace the disillusionment and uncertainty that overcame Europe at the turn of the twentieth century and that culminated in the devastation of the Second World War. In their analysis of the political and economic causes of the renaissance that has followed the demise of the Cold War, the authors highlight the themes of national integration and economic modernization.The chapters are uniquely organized to present both international and domestic developments in Europe as coherent wholes as well as the importance of their interaction. The initial analysis of key international developments in the twentieth century helps students to understand the relationship between foreign and domestic events and provides background for the substantial discussion of the major European countries that follows in chapters devoted to each national experience. The political and economic histories of these nation-states are considered in terms of their individual traditions and challenges, and the authors explore difficult issues such as the overall costs and benefits of the scientific-technological revolution, the pursuit of social justice, the proper role of the state and of political parties, and contrasting national paths of economic and political development.Rebirth is designed as a text for use in courses on modern European history ? especially twentieth-century Europe ? and for students of comparative politics who are seeking a substantial consideration of the historical factors of European politics. In this revised edition, the authors have updated the text with an analysis of developments since 1991 and added recent scholarship to the lists of Suggested Readings.

Taking a thematic approach, Derek Urwin addresses the major political and economic developments in western Europe since World War II, right up to the present day. The book covers issues and developments in national politics, and the movement towards greater unity in Western Europe and the role of Europe in global politics and in the international economy. The text has been revised throughout and updated to take account of the political consequences of the ending of the Cold War and the troubled progress of European integration since Maastricht. The Fifth Edition has lost nothing of its predecessor's clarity and accessibility and in its updated form will win the book a host of new admirers.

An award-winning history of the transformation of Europe between 1989 and today In this award-winning book, Philipp Ther provides the first comprehensive history of post-1989 Europe, offering a sweeping narrative filled with vivid details and memorable stories. Europe since 1989 shows how liberalization, deregulation, and privatization had catastrophic effects on former Soviet Bloc countries. Ther refutes the idea that this economic “shock therapy” was the basis of later growth, arguing that human capital and the “transformation from below” determined economic success or failure. He also shows how the capitalist West’s effort to reshape Eastern Europe in its own likeness ended up reshaping Western Europe, especially Germany. Bringing the story up to the present, Ther compares Eastern and Southern Europe after the 2008–9 global financial crisis. A compelling account of how the new order of Europe was wrought from the chaotic aftermath of the Cold War, Europe since 1989 is essential reading for understanding post-Brexit Europe and the present dangers for democracy and the European Union.