Covering the period from the end of the Second World War up to the Millennium, this book offers an integrated overview of the history of Europe, east and west, in the second half of the twentieth century. The text: deals not only with developments in politics, economics, and international relations, but also examines social and cultural trends; covers the history of central and eastern Europe in depth, as well as that of western Europe; describes the impact of the Second World War on Europe; discusses in detail the impact of the Cold War across the continent; recounts the rapid and dramatic changes in eastern Europe and the USSR that led to the end of the Cold War; and, takes the reader right up to the end of the century, offering a new interpretation of Europe in the 1990s.

Table of Contents

List of Maps. List of Illustrations. Introduction: Europe's Troubles. 1. The War and its Legacy. 2. Europe between the Powers, 1945--53. 3. Restoration, Reconstruction and Revolution: Europe 1945--50. 4. Consolidating Western Europe, 1950--1963. 5. Western Europe in the 1960s. 6. The Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, from 1953 to the 1970s. 7. Europe in the 1970s: Downturn and Detente. 8. Western Europe in the 1980s: The era of Thatcher, Mitterrand and Kohl. 9. European Integration: from Rome to Maastricht (1957--1992). 10. The fall of the Communist regimes: The Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, 1980--91. 11. Europe after the Cold War. 12. Conclusion. Notes. Guide to Further reading. Index.

Author Biography

Tom Buchanan is Reader in Modern History and Politics at Oxford University and a Fellow of Kellogg College. His previous publications include Britain and the Spanish Civil War (1997).