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Return to Diversity: A Political History of East Central Europe Since World War II
Highly acclaimed and thoroughly updated, Return to Diversity, Fourth Edition, provides a comprehensive political history of East Central Europe from World War II to the present. An engaging and straightforward political narrative, the book is organized chronologically in a country-by-country format that students can easily navigate. Each section summarizes and examines the most important themes in Eastern Europe during the rise and fall of Communism. The text features balanced discussions of relevant political events, along with a detailed analysis of the causes and consequences of Communism from the perspective of post-Communist regimes.
Nancy M. Wingfield has revised the fourth edition to incorporate additional social and economic history into the text's strong discussions of political history. She also provides expanded coverage of the resurgence of nationalism in the 1980s, the role of dissident movements in the shift to democracy, and the problems of Communism. To make the region's history even more relevant to students, Return to Diversity now concludes with a compelling look at the contemporary reintegration of the "new" and "old" Europes.
Unsurpassed in scope, depth of analysis, and objectivity, Return to Diversity continues to be an invaluable resource for both professors and students of this region's vivid political history.
Nancy M. Wingfield has revised the fourth edition to incorporate additional social and economic history into the text's strong discussions of political history. She also provides expanded coverage of the resurgence of nationalism in the 1980s, the role of dissident movements in the shift to democracy, and the problems of Communism. To make the region's history even more relevant to students, Return to Diversity now concludes with a compelling look at the contemporary reintegration of the "new" and "old" Europes.
Unsurpassed in scope, depth of analysis, and objectivity, Return to Diversity continues to be an invaluable resource for both professors and students of this region's vivid political history.
352 pages, Paperback
First published November 17, 1988
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 7, 2012
I was assigned to read this book as part of a survey course on Russia and Eastern Europe in graduate school, and read it, typically for grad school, by skimming the beginning and end of each chapter and looking for interesting references in the index. This works fine, for the purposes of finding a book's thesis and discussing it intelligently, but it is not ideal for a book such as this, which is written in a compelling narrative fashion, with frequent references back to earlier sections and comparisons. In this case, it will be worthwhile to return and read it properly at some point.
The book is unusual, in that it is a revised edition of a book which Rothschild published solitarily in two previous editions. Nancy Wingfield has been added as a new author for the purposes of this edition, and without having seen the earlier ones, it is hard to assess how prevalent her voice really is. In some places, “the author” refers to himself in the singular, suggesting that the revisions were not that extensive.
Rothschild’s original book, however, is clearly a classic of post-World War II studies, and covers an area with which many Western students will be unfamiliar. Specifically, “East Central Europe” is defined for his purposes as Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Rumania, Bulgaria, and Albania. These states changed their faces several times during the twentieth century, and two were broken up into smaller units after the breakup of the Soviet bloc, but throughout most of the postwar period were relatively stable units within the sphere of influence of the USSR. Thus, their comparative study is workable and useful. The first quarter of the book, roughly, sets the stage by discussing the prewar situation and the Second World War in detail, as it related to each of these regions. The next chapters discuss Stalinism, the revolts as East Central Europe reasserted itself in the 50s and 60s, the period of “stalemate” and the final breakup of Communist Europe.
As this is primarily a synthesis of the research of others, the bibliography and notes are short, but may be helpful to those wishing to study cases more closely. It is unlikely that this book will offer much for specialists in the region, but serves as a good introduction to the history of the most ignored part of Europe, and is compact and readable.
The book is unusual, in that it is a revised edition of a book which Rothschild published solitarily in two previous editions. Nancy Wingfield has been added as a new author for the purposes of this edition, and without having seen the earlier ones, it is hard to assess how prevalent her voice really is. In some places, “the author” refers to himself in the singular, suggesting that the revisions were not that extensive.
Rothschild’s original book, however, is clearly a classic of post-World War II studies, and covers an area with which many Western students will be unfamiliar. Specifically, “East Central Europe” is defined for his purposes as Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Rumania, Bulgaria, and Albania. These states changed their faces several times during the twentieth century, and two were broken up into smaller units after the breakup of the Soviet bloc, but throughout most of the postwar period were relatively stable units within the sphere of influence of the USSR. Thus, their comparative study is workable and useful. The first quarter of the book, roughly, sets the stage by discussing the prewar situation and the Second World War in detail, as it related to each of these regions. The next chapters discuss Stalinism, the revolts as East Central Europe reasserted itself in the 50s and 60s, the period of “stalemate” and the final breakup of Communist Europe.
As this is primarily a synthesis of the research of others, the bibliography and notes are short, but may be helpful to those wishing to study cases more closely. It is unlikely that this book will offer much for specialists in the region, but serves as a good introduction to the history of the most ignored part of Europe, and is compact and readable.
July 5, 2011
A very good book to get another interpretation of the history we were taught in CE Europe as kids and youngsters. Or lived it. Somewhat over-condensed for an uninformed reader with all the names and dates very swiftly cascading through most of the chapters, but it is far better, more valuable and maybe even more entertaining option than a hasty "CE Europe in 7 days" tourist tour. The book might well be a good winter prelude to such a trip in the summer, though. ;-)
However, following the major changes of the 1990s a reader absolutely ought to go for one of the latest editions listed here. The 3rd one from 2000 is even available for free download as PDF on few web sites and very easy to find.
However, following the major changes of the 1990s a reader absolutely ought to go for one of the latest editions listed here. The 3rd one from 2000 is even available for free download as PDF on few web sites and very easy to find.
March 20, 2017
elegant framework for the analysis of east central european political experiences from post ww1 to post communism. I enjoyed the comparisions. Not so much the overloaded prose, too crowded with adjetives for my taste.
January 30, 2008
I love this book. It is an excellent survey of Eastern Europe during the Cold War. He is a great writer and this book contains so much interesting information. It is the second time I've read it and I'm planning on reading it again.
May 5, 2009
Read for international diversity class "Nationalism and Communism in Eastern Europe." Good class and pretty interesting read.
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October 9, 2009Return to Diversity: A Political History of East Central Europe since World War II by Joseph Rothschild (1999)
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews