Europe Since 1945: A Concise History

ISBN-13: 9781403917904 / Angielski / Miękka / 2007 / 368 str.

J Robert Wegs

Opis

The fifth edition of this highly successful textbook takes full account of recent events and research in the analysis - both thematic and chronological - of the whole of Europe since 1945. Concise and lucid, it covers a broad span geographically and in terms of topics. Illustrations, tables and maps aid students' understanding of this key period.

Spis treści

List of Maps.- List of Tables.- List of Illustrations.- Acknowledgements.- Preface.- A Bipolar World.- From Left to Right: European Politics, 1945-1948.- Economic Recovery in Western Europe.- Western European Politics, 1948-1960s.- The End of European Empire.- The Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in the 1950s and 1960s: The New Course and Polycentrism.- European Unity.- Postwar European Society: A Consumer Society and Welfare State.- Economics and Society in the Communist World.- 1968: Year of Crisis and Its Legacies.- Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union in the 1970s, 1980s, and Beyond: Decline, Fall and Transition.- Western European Political and Economic Trends since the 1960s.- Thought and Culture since 1945.- Europe Enters the Twenty-First Century.- Index.

O autorze

J. ROBERT WEGS was formerly Chair of the History Department at the University of Notre Dame, USA.

ROBERT LADRECH is Senior Lecturer in Politics at Keele University, UK. He is also Visiting Professor at the College of Europe, Bruges, Belgium.

Blurb

As Europe has expanded its influence in world economic and political affairs, there has been an increased need to understand how Europe recovered from the devastation of World War II to become a major world player. This concise history offers a comprehensive overview of Europe's political, social, economic and cultural developments since 1945.

J. Robert Wegs and Robert Ladrech balance a narrative of the major events and personalities of the post-war political scene with a critical assessment of key issues and themes, such as:
- the development of the welfare state
- European integration and the European Union
- the Cold War
- the rise and fall of the Soviet Empire
- the political-economic turmoil in eastern Europe since 1989
- the place of Europe in the globalisation of the world's political-economic affairs.
The text also features further reading sections at the end of each chapter to aid more detailed study, and is enhanced throughout with tables, maps and illustrations.

Written for students and general readers alike, this thoroughly revised, updated and expanded new edition is an ideal introduction for anyone with an interest in the history and politics of post-war Europe, east and west.