Research Catalog

Title

Roller-Coaster : Europe, 1950-2017 / Ian Kershaw.

Author

Kershaw, Ian

Publication

UK : Allen Lane, 2018.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xxiv, 665 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps; 24 cm.

Summary

"After the overwhelming horrors of the first half of the 20th century, described by Ian Kershaw in his previous book as having gone 'to Hell and back', the years from 1950 to 2017 brought peace and relative prosperity to most of Europe. Enormous economic improvements transformed the continent. The catastrophic era of the world wars receded into an ever more distant past, though its long shadow continued to shape mentalities. Europe was now a divided continent, living under the nuclear threat in a period intermittently fraught with anxiety. Europeans experienced a 'roller-coaster ride', both in the sense that they were flung through a series of events which threatened disaster, but also in that they were no longer in charge of their own destinies: for much of the period the USA and USSR effectively reduced Europeans to helpless figures whose fates were dictated to them depending on the vagaries of the Cold War. There were, by most definitions, striking successes - the Soviet bloc melted away, dictatorships vanished and Germany was successfully reunited. But accelerating globalization brought new fragilities. The impact of interlocking crises after 2008 was the clearest warning to Europeans that there was no guarantee of peace and stability. In this remarkable book, Ian Kershaw has created a grand panorama of the world we live in and where it came from. Drawing on examples from all across Europe, Roller-Coaster will make us all rethink Europe and what it means to be European." --Publisher description.

Series Statement

The Penguin history of Europe ; 9

Uniform Title

Penguin history of Europe ; 9.

Subject

• Cold War (1945-1989)
• 1900-2099
• Cold War
• Europe > History > 20th century
• Europe > History > 21st century
• Europe

Genre/Form

History.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Call Number

JFE 18-9078

ISBN

• 0241368235
• 9780241187166
• 9780241368237
• 0241187168

OCLC

1022785903

Author

Kershaw, Ian, author.

Title

Roller-Coaster : Europe, 1950-2017 / Ian Kershaw.

Imprint

UK : Allen Lane, 2018.

Type of Content

text

still image

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

The Penguin history of Europe ; 9

Penguin history of Europe ; 9.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Chronological Term

1900-2099

Research Call Number

JFE 18-9078