The Rebirth of Europe [antikvár]

PREFACE 'The man who ventures to write contemporary history,' Voltaire wrote to Bertin de Rocheret, 'must expect to be attacked both for everything he has said and everything he has not said.' The present book is, to the best of my knowledge, the first attempt to trace in one volume, political and cultural, economic and social developments in Europe since 1945. Europe still consists of thirty-odd, more or less independent, countries. A work dealing only with the common features and patterns in the continent's recent history would at best be incomplete, while a survey of each separate country would be impracticable. I have tried to combine the two approaches. The first part of this book covers, roughly speaking, the period from the end of the second world war to Stalin's death. Part 11 deals with the main economic and social trends, and Part III with cultural developments in Europe since the middle fifties. In Part IV, European politics since 1955 are described and analysed. The bibliography does not purport to be complete; it is a guide to further reading. London - Boston, June ig6g