Description
'Excellent … much to ponder' Financial Times
'Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the world of today' – Margaret MacMillan, author of War: How Conflict Shaped Us
'A masterpiece' David Motadel, author of Revolutionary World
1945. Europe lies in ruins – its cities and towns destroyed by conflict, its economies crippled, its societies ripped apart by war and violence. In the wake of the physical devastation came profound moral questions: how could Europe – once proudly confident of its place at the heart of the 'civilised world' – have done this to itself? And what did it mean that it had?
In the years that followed, Europeans – from politicians to refugees, poets to campaigners, religious leaders to communist revolutionaries – tried to make sense of what had happened, and to forge a new concept of civilisation that would bring peace and progress to a broken continent. As they wrestled with questions great and small – from the legacy of colonialism to workplace etiquette – institutions and shared ideals emerged which still shape our world today.
Rich with original sources and individual voices, this is a gripping, authoritative account of how Europe rose from the ashes of the Second World War – and forged itself anew.
