Barbarism and Civilization: A History of Europe in Our TimeOxford University Press, 2009 - 901 páginas "Here is the definitive history of contemporary Europe, a controversial but authoritative and lively narrative that is destined to become the standard account of the period from 1914 to the present. In this important new book, University of Chicago historian Bernard Wasserstein offers the first serious, full-length history of a century of convulsive change. It is a history of barbarism and civilization, of cruelty and tenderness, of technological achievement and environmental blight, of imperial expansion and withdrawal, of authoritarian repression and of individualism resurgent. Wasserstein provides both a narrative of the main contours of the political, diplomatic, and military history and an analysis of the underpinnings of demographic, economic, and social developments. Most notably, the book explores the evolution of values and sensibilities in a period when, for the first time, God disappeared as a living presence in the minds of most Europeans. Wasserstein argues that barbarism and civilization were not polar opposites: rather they marched hand in hand. Twentieth-century Europe saw incontestable improvements in living conditions for most inhabitants of the continent: average life span was extended by more than half; real incomes increased dramatically; illiteracy was all but eliminated; women, ethnic minorities, and homosexuals advanced closer to equality of respect and opportunity. Yet the century also witnessed some of the most brutish episodes in the recorded history of our species. Hence Wasserstein's conclusion that "greed, selfishness, lies, and cruelty are the stuff of the history of Europe in our time." Drawing on the latest scholarly findings,including recent disclosures of intelligence materials and archival revelations that followed the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe, Wasserstein captures the essence of contemporary European history in an engaging narrative that is by turns grim, humorous, surprising, and enlightening." -- Publisher. |
Contenido
1 Europe at 1914 | 1 |
2 Europe at War 19141917 | 37 |
3 Revolutionary Europe 19171921 | 80 |
4 Recovery of the Bourgeoisie 19211929 | 127 |
5 Depression and Terror 19291936 | 165 |
6 Europe in the 1930s | 205 |
7 Spiral into War 19361939 | 242 |
8 Hitler Triumphant 19391942 | 287 |
13 Stalin and his Heirs 19491964 | 487 |
14 Consensus and Dissent in Western Europe 19581973 | 520 |
15 Europe in the 1960s | 554 |
16 Strife in Communist Europe 19641985 | 590 |
17 Stress in Liberal Europe 19731989 | 627 |
18 The Collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe 19851991 | 666 |
19 After the Fall 19912007 | 705 |
20 Europe in the New Millennium | 750 |
9 Life and Death in Wartime | 330 |
10 End of Hitlers Europe 19421945 | 369 |
11 Europe Partitioned 19451949 | 403 |
12 West European Recovery 19491958 | 451 |
Notes | 794 |
Bibliography | 838 |
867 | |
Otras ediciones - Ver todas
Barbarism and Civilization: A History of Europe in our Time Bernard Wasserstein Vista previa limitada - 2009 |
Barbarism and Civilization: A History of Europe in Our Time Bernard Wasserstein Vista previa limitada - 2007 |
Barbarism and Civilization: A History of Europe in Our Time Bernard Wasserstein Vista de fragmentos - 2007 |
Términos y frases comunes
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