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Europe: 1945 to the Present
1945 to the Present examines the tumultuous history of Europe from the end of World War II through the present. Beginning with the post-war scene, and ending with a discussion of the European Union and its current plans for expansion, the narrative takes students through the past sixty years in a thoughtful, well-organized way. The book covers the Cold War, decolonization, and major developments in the arts and sciences, as well as Europe's reaction to the events of September 11, 2001, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and such episodes of terrorism as the Madrid bombings of 2004. Written in a clear, well-paced style, 1945 to the Present features primary source text boxes, a chronology, a list of supplemental readings, and numerous illustrations and maps. It is ideal for undergraduate courses on the history of Europe since 1945.
- GenresHistory
192 pages, Paperback
First published April 7, 2005
24 people want to read
About the author
Robin W. Winks
113 books11 followersRobin W. Winks was an American academic, historian, diplomat, writer on the subject of fiction, especially detective novels, and advocate for the National Parks.
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January 3, 2024
Robin Winks's surveys are often the most succinct books on European history. I've used his book Europe, 1890 to 1945: Crisis and Conflict several times, and I thought I might use this book in a course on Europe after 1945 this coming semester. It is just way too short and tries to do too much.
The first chapter, outlining the attempt to put Europe back together after World War II and then tracking the development of the Cold War, is not bad. Yet, even here it is remarkably US-centered rather than Europe centered in its approach, and in parallel to that the Soviet Union is given far more attention than any of the countries of Eastern Europe. The process of Stalinization is treated in general terms, and then followed with brief survey of the Khrushchev thaw and its after affects in the Soviet satellite states that totals just 4 pages. Similarly, the next chapter about European Empire and its end is similarly rushed. Vietnam and Algeria along with France get the most attention with 10 pages, while the formation of Pakistan and India gets 3 pages including a half-page picture of Gandhi and Nehru, the Dutch retreat from Indonesia gets a page. The Middle East, including the founding of Israel, likewise gets three pages, while Africa gets 4 pages of text, of which half summarize the Scramble for Africa and Belgian King Leopold II's shocking abuse of Africans. Fittingly given that focus on the Congo Lumumba gets a page, but there is nothing about Kwame Nkrumah nor the Mau-Mau in Kenya. I suspect the Wikipedia article on Decolonization in Africa is longer and more thorough.
Following those two chapter we get similarly rushed treatments of Western Europe from 1945-2000 and then of Eastern Europe that again is woefully Soviet Union centered. The article on arts and sciences may be the best giving a run down of major cultural developments in just over 30 pages. The book closes with a chapter "Europe after 9/11." It starts as meditation on globalization that could be quite useful in a course on the contemporary world, but really doesn't put Europe at the forefront. With 9/11 the focus again becomes the US plays with Europe offering a critique of American policy but without being put on center stage. Towards the end there is some discussion of European enlargement and the tensions between the old Western European core of the EU and the states brought into the Union by enlargement, but again it is far too rushed.
I don't know the story of this book's publication, but I find it hard not to think that Winks himself would not have been happy with this product if he had had time to consider it. Here and there there are there are some interesting thoughts that could stimulate a classroom discussion, but this is not a book you can assign with the notion that students will get the basic information necessary to have consistent discussions about postwar Europe over a semester.
The first chapter, outlining the attempt to put Europe back together after World War II and then tracking the development of the Cold War, is not bad. Yet, even here it is remarkably US-centered rather than Europe centered in its approach, and in parallel to that the Soviet Union is given far more attention than any of the countries of Eastern Europe. The process of Stalinization is treated in general terms, and then followed with brief survey of the Khrushchev thaw and its after affects in the Soviet satellite states that totals just 4 pages. Similarly, the next chapter about European Empire and its end is similarly rushed. Vietnam and Algeria along with France get the most attention with 10 pages, while the formation of Pakistan and India gets 3 pages including a half-page picture of Gandhi and Nehru, the Dutch retreat from Indonesia gets a page. The Middle East, including the founding of Israel, likewise gets three pages, while Africa gets 4 pages of text, of which half summarize the Scramble for Africa and Belgian King Leopold II's shocking abuse of Africans. Fittingly given that focus on the Congo Lumumba gets a page, but there is nothing about Kwame Nkrumah nor the Mau-Mau in Kenya. I suspect the Wikipedia article on Decolonization in Africa is longer and more thorough.
Following those two chapter we get similarly rushed treatments of Western Europe from 1945-2000 and then of Eastern Europe that again is woefully Soviet Union centered. The article on arts and sciences may be the best giving a run down of major cultural developments in just over 30 pages. The book closes with a chapter "Europe after 9/11." It starts as meditation on globalization that could be quite useful in a course on the contemporary world, but really doesn't put Europe at the forefront. With 9/11 the focus again becomes the US plays with Europe offering a critique of American policy but without being put on center stage. Towards the end there is some discussion of European enlargement and the tensions between the old Western European core of the EU and the states brought into the Union by enlargement, but again it is far too rushed.
I don't know the story of this book's publication, but I find it hard not to think that Winks himself would not have been happy with this product if he had had time to consider it. Here and there there are there are some interesting thoughts that could stimulate a classroom discussion, but this is not a book you can assign with the notion that students will get the basic information necessary to have consistent discussions about postwar Europe over a semester.
Displaying 1 of 1 review