The Struggle for Europe: The Turbulent History of a Divided Continent 1945 to the Present

From the ashes of World War II to the conflict over Iraq, William Hitchcock examines the miraculous transformation of Europe from a deeply fractured land to a continent striving for stability, tolerance, democracy, and prosperity. Exploring the role of Cold War politics in Europe’s peace settlement and the half century that followed, Hitchcock reveals how leaders such as Charles de Gaulle, Willy Brandt, and Margaret Thatcher balanced their nations’ interests against the demands of the reigning superpowers, leading to great strides in economic and political unity. He re-creates Europeans’ struggles with their troubling legacy of racial, ethnic, and national antagonism, and shows that while divisions persist, Europe stands on the threshold of changes that may profoundly shape the future of world affairs.

Customer Reviews:

Good Choice for a European Overview

By Max J Rosenthal - August 5, 2006

The best thing to be said about Hitchcock's book is probably the worst as well: it is perfectly suited to be an entertaining and accessible textbook for a modern European history class. On the one hand, this means that the book is highly informative and hits on the major issues of high politics in postwar Europe. Hitchcock is very adept at providing enough background to allow readers to fully appreciate the stories he tells, many of which are probably unknown to most. Reading the story of Labor's postwar victory in Britain, or the fairly unheard-of July 1953 uprising in Berlin turns out to be novel and entertaining.

Yet, the book also suffers from some classic schoolbook problems. Hitchcock occasionally gets drowned in reciting facts and figures, which greatly slows the book's fast start. And as the previous reviewer said, the scope of the book is not wide, sticking to the obvious countries and people for the most part. The final chapter on the EU is truly... read more

A Very Readable History of Modern Europe

By Rodolphe Boulanger - January 10, 2006

Hitchcock's The Struggle for Europe achieves exactly what it sets out to do: provide a clear and easy-to-read synopsis of the events of the last 60 years of European History.

The book opens with a detailed analysis of the postwar period with Britain totally broke, much of Germany destroyed, France & Italy in chaos and Eastern Europe falling into Stalinist control. Hitchock shows the importance that a few key descisions in the late 1940s had on the development of both Western and Eastern Europe for the rest of the century. The economic boom in the West, continued repression in the E, social change, immigration, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of Yugoslavia, and the European Union all receive a chapter in this, mostly chronological, narrative. Hitchcock does a very good job weaving these disparate events together and providing the reader with a perspective on the forces behind them.

Hitchcock spends most of his time focusing on Germany, Britain, and... read more

Good overview

By another opinion - May 19, 2010

This book provides a very good political overview of post-WWII Europe. If you want a better understanding of the reasons for the cold war, this book is worthwhile.