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Europe Since 1870: An International History
This is an incredibly detailed account of the development of Europe since 1870. Joll moves from one country to another in the space of a few lines, making detailed comparisons along the way, paying attention to intellectual and social trends as well as political developments.
560 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
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239 people want to read
About the author
James Joll
17 books6 followersames Bysse Joll FBA (21 June 1918 – 12 July 1994) was a British historian and university lecturer whose works included The Origins of the First World War and Europe Since 1870. He also wrote on the history of anarchism and socialism.
Life and career
Joll was born on 21 June 1918 in Bristol[1] and was educated at Winchester, the University of Bordeaux and New College, Oxford. He left to join the British Army in 1940, eventually serving in the Special Operations Executive. He returned to Oxford after World War II, completed his studies, and became an instructor there. He was a Fellow and Tutor in Politics from 1947 until 1950. He then transferred to St Antony's College. In 1955 he met the painter and art historian John Golding;[2] the two men formed a long relationship which lasted until Joll's death.[3]
While at Oxford, Joll wrote a book on the Second International (1955) and a book on Léon Blum, Walter Rathenau, and Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, called Intellectuals in Politics (1960). In 1964 he published The Anarchists, which showed his intertwined interests in the culture, events, political philosophy, and individual personalities forming the history of a Leftist movement.
In 1967 Joll left St Antony's, Oxford to teach at the London School of Economics, as the Stevenson Professor of International History.[1] His best known work was Europe Since 1870: an International History, which appeared in 1973. He returned to biography in 1977, with his book on Italian Marxist intellectual Antonio Gramsci; he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in the same year. Several prizes in the Department of International History at the London School of Economics remain named in his honour. Later, he gave refuge to Anthony Blunt, Golding's colleague at the Courtauld Institute and former teacher, after Blunt's exposure as a former Soviet spy, for which Joll was attacked in the press.[2]
Following his retirement in 1981, he became Emeritus Professor of the University of London.
Joll died 12 July 1994 from the cancer of the larynx.[1] In his obituary notice for The Independent newspaper, the historian Sir Michael Howard, noted:
Joll's real focus was the history of ideas broadly conceived – philosophical, ethical and aesthetic, as well as political – and the interface between this and the political history of Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries. He firmly believed that history was made by people rather than by dispassionate forces. But he also believed that one could not understand why people act as they do unless one also understands the influences that moulded their minds.[2]
Life and career
Joll was born on 21 June 1918 in Bristol[1] and was educated at Winchester, the University of Bordeaux and New College, Oxford. He left to join the British Army in 1940, eventually serving in the Special Operations Executive. He returned to Oxford after World War II, completed his studies, and became an instructor there. He was a Fellow and Tutor in Politics from 1947 until 1950. He then transferred to St Antony's College. In 1955 he met the painter and art historian John Golding;[2] the two men formed a long relationship which lasted until Joll's death.[3]
While at Oxford, Joll wrote a book on the Second International (1955) and a book on Léon Blum, Walter Rathenau, and Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, called Intellectuals in Politics (1960). In 1964 he published The Anarchists, which showed his intertwined interests in the culture, events, political philosophy, and individual personalities forming the history of a Leftist movement.
In 1967 Joll left St Antony's, Oxford to teach at the London School of Economics, as the Stevenson Professor of International History.[1] His best known work was Europe Since 1870: an International History, which appeared in 1973. He returned to biography in 1977, with his book on Italian Marxist intellectual Antonio Gramsci; he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in the same year. Several prizes in the Department of International History at the London School of Economics remain named in his honour. Later, he gave refuge to Anthony Blunt, Golding's colleague at the Courtauld Institute and former teacher, after Blunt's exposure as a former Soviet spy, for which Joll was attacked in the press.[2]
Following his retirement in 1981, he became Emeritus Professor of the University of London.
Joll died 12 July 1994 from the cancer of the larynx.[1] In his obituary notice for The Independent newspaper, the historian Sir Michael Howard, noted:
Joll's real focus was the history of ideas broadly conceived – philosophical, ethical and aesthetic, as well as political – and the interface between this and the political history of Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries. He firmly believed that history was made by people rather than by dispassionate forces. But he also believed that one could not understand why people act as they do unless one also understands the influences that moulded their minds.[2]
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
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April 2, 2018A solid narrative political history with cultural and some social asides that covers Europe from circa 1870 to circa 1990 unevenly.
The first problem, in comparison with Judt's PostWar is that Joll is covering 120 years in less than five hundred pages, while Judt takes on 65 years in about seven hundred pages. There simply isn't enough space to deal convincingly with the subject matter.
At its worst the book is a narrative political history of Britain, France, Germany and Italy with occasional mentions of other countries. Portugal is mentioned as an imperial power and then disappears until it joins the EEC, Austria gets a handful of mentions after WWI in at least four of which we are told that Dollfuss was assassinated in 1934 (less significant I would have thought than the assassination of Walter Rathenau in 1922 which only merits two mentions), the downside of this is that when events are covered - like the Colonels Coup in Greece, they come out of the blue and aren't shown in their historical context.
The second major problem is the that the book was originally published in 1973 and later revised. I can't help imagine that the lack of access to Eastern Europe after WWII limited the way in which Joll dealt with those countries in the pre-war period too. Not that this sticks out particularly - Scandinavia and the Iberian peninsula are also largely passed over, reinforcing the view that Europe is in fact western Europe and beyond it is some obscure grey zone of obscurity before one reaches either Africa or Asia. The other issue with this is that the expansion of the EU since 1989 would cause a historian writing today to give its establishment and rise more attention than it gets in this book (although having said that Marshall Aid doesn't get much space either).
Having said that, the tighter focus on a limited number of the bigger states helps give a narrative focus that works well in the chapters that deal with the build up to the world wars. What the shortcomings of the volume bring home is just how ambitious an undertaking of this sort is.
Yes there are omissions and curious judgements but it does provide a readable introduction to recent European history - but it is an introduction and not a destination.
The first problem, in comparison with Judt's PostWar is that Joll is covering 120 years in less than five hundred pages, while Judt takes on 65 years in about seven hundred pages. There simply isn't enough space to deal convincingly with the subject matter.
At its worst the book is a narrative political history of Britain, France, Germany and Italy with occasional mentions of other countries. Portugal is mentioned as an imperial power and then disappears until it joins the EEC, Austria gets a handful of mentions after WWI in at least four of which we are told that Dollfuss was assassinated in 1934 (less significant I would have thought than the assassination of Walter Rathenau in 1922 which only merits two mentions), the downside of this is that when events are covered - like the Colonels Coup in Greece, they come out of the blue and aren't shown in their historical context.
The second major problem is the that the book was originally published in 1973 and later revised. I can't help imagine that the lack of access to Eastern Europe after WWII limited the way in which Joll dealt with those countries in the pre-war period too. Not that this sticks out particularly - Scandinavia and the Iberian peninsula are also largely passed over, reinforcing the view that Europe is in fact western Europe and beyond it is some obscure grey zone of obscurity before one reaches either Africa or Asia. The other issue with this is that the expansion of the EU since 1989 would cause a historian writing today to give its establishment and rise more attention than it gets in this book (although having said that Marshall Aid doesn't get much space either).
Having said that, the tighter focus on a limited number of the bigger states helps give a narrative focus that works well in the chapters that deal with the build up to the world wars. What the shortcomings of the volume bring home is just how ambitious an undertaking of this sort is.
Yes there are omissions and curious judgements but it does provide a readable introduction to recent European history - but it is an introduction and not a destination.
July 3, 2016
The book grew on me as I read. Joll does a very good job of balancing the history of different nations/nationalities. It is an interesting book to read right now particularly since he briefly discusses the rise of the European Union and how the British were denied entry at first. The Conservatives, back then, were the ones who wanted admittance. It is also interesting since Joll wrote before the fall of the Berlin Wall. A very good review of late nineteenth and early twentieth century European history.
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May 19, 2021I was very ill in my first year at university but I didn't know that I was. As a result I didn't read my course texts. That was 37 years ago. My illness was diagnosed 5 years ago. For the past 4 years i've been reading the books that I should've read then. It's been a sad process but I also have a feeling of closure.
September 18, 2024
Typical of English speaking historians of the middle 20th Century Joll simply writes his commentary on events rather than writing history. History is about first of all what happened and then why it happened. However the ego of academics is such that they think it is all about what they thought about things rather than about facts and evidence. Naturally Joll comes at this from an old style European liberal background, but the nature of the book as an opinion piece obscures this slant of bias. At least mostly it does - Joll uses the strongest of language to condemn the Nazis (which of course is legitimate) but the most mild disinterest with respect to the atrocities of the communists.
It is just possible to glean some useful understanding of this largely untold period of European history from context, but it is all so very selectively told. For one it is 90% concerned with Germany, France, Russia, Italy, Britain and to an extent Austria-Hungary. Europe is far more than these great powers. It is an impossible task to detail everything about every country, nevertheless Joll seems very particular in the political machinations he chooses to cover, even for the great powers.
Worst than this is his inherent intellectual bias. He discusses the influence of various thought makers from Darwin to Ruskin to Neitzche - but there no mention of Christianity - surely the biggest influence in shaping thought and action! He addresses (poorly at that) the effect of science (Einstein etc) but fails to look at the massive technological changes of the era and their influence in changing society.
Overall this is an example of 'don't let evidence get in the way of a good tale'.
It is just possible to glean some useful understanding of this largely untold period of European history from context, but it is all so very selectively told. For one it is 90% concerned with Germany, France, Russia, Italy, Britain and to an extent Austria-Hungary. Europe is far more than these great powers. It is an impossible task to detail everything about every country, nevertheless Joll seems very particular in the political machinations he chooses to cover, even for the great powers.
Worst than this is his inherent intellectual bias. He discusses the influence of various thought makers from Darwin to Ruskin to Neitzche - but there no mention of Christianity - surely the biggest influence in shaping thought and action! He addresses (poorly at that) the effect of science (Einstein etc) but fails to look at the massive technological changes of the era and their influence in changing society.
Overall this is an example of 'don't let evidence get in the way of a good tale'.
June 22, 2025
A really fascinating read that ended up taking far longer than anticipated! (I’ll blame exam season for that one.)
March 1, 2017
Exceptional. Necessarily brief, given that it covers 120 years of history in 500 pages, but a superb primer that really helped to cement my understanding of the European late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews