Twisted Paths: Europe 1914-1945

by Robert Gerwarth (Editor)

A concise look at European history between 1914 and 1945, Twisted Europe 1914-1945 offers a new and alternative introduction to the period. Featuring a series of succinct interpretations by expert contributors, this volume covers historical developments in all areas within Europe's natural borders--from the Atlantic to the Arctic Ocean, from the Bosporus to the Urals and the Mediterranean. Moving beyond the view that the history of this period can only be understood in terms of catastrophe, it argues for a more balanced perspective, suggesting that both "darker" and "lighter" elements in Europe's history were capable of evolving simultaneously. Without neglecting the more familiar stories of war, genocide, and economic depression, each chapter demonstrates that political stability and regime collapse, social progress and mass poverty, and the crisis of European civilization and remarkable cultural achievements, existed alongside each other.

Emphasizing the histories of the smaller states--and the multifaceted nature of the period-- Twisted Paths illuminates the diversity of Europe's experiences in the first half of the twentieth century.

Genres: History, European History, Academic

448 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2007

About the author

Robert Gerwarth is a Professor of European history, with an emphasis on German history. Since finishing a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship at Oxford, he has held fellowships at Princeton, Harvard, the NIOD (Amsterdam) and the Institute for Advanced Studies at the University of Western Australia.

Reviews

[Jon Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its nice to read some articles that at least TRY to highlight some of the positives that came out of the interwar period. BUT sometimes they belabor the point. As far as I can tell, the 20's were fairly optimistic, and the 30s were very pessimistic. Unless you live in Germany, then flip that, or maybe say the late 20s early 30s sucked, and then the late 30s were positive. This book is good to read with Martin Kitchen's "Europe Between the Wars" because his doom and gloom contrasts nicely with this revisionist text.