Barbarism and Civilization: A History of Europe in Our Time [Hardcover]

Bernard Wasserstein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0198730748 | ISBN-13: 978-0198730743 | Edition: First Edition

Here is the definitive history of contemporary Europe, a controversial but authoritative and lively narrative that is destined to become the standard account of the period from 1914 to the present. In this superb volume, esteemed historian Bernard Wasserstein offers the first serious, full-length history of a century of convulsive change. It is a history of barbarism and civilization, of cruelty and tenderness, of technological achievement and environmental blight, of imperial expansion and withdrawal, of authoritarian repression and of individual rebirth. Wasserstein provides both a narrative of the main contours of the political, diplomatic, and military history and an analysis the underpinnings of demographic, economic, and social developments. Drawing on the latest scholarly findings, including recent disclosures of intelligence materials and archival revelations that followed the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe, Wasserstein captures the essence of contemporary European history in an engaging narrative that is by turns grim, humorous, surprising, and enlightening.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Barbarism and civilization have been inextricably intertwined in 20th-century Europe, says University of Chicago historian Wasserstein in this tour-de-force. Taking WWI as his starting point, Wasserstein (Britain and the Jews of Europe 1939–1945) details how some of history's greatest achievements (increased democracy, widespread wealth and longevity) have been accompanied by tremendous violence—two vicious world wars, government-instigated famine in the Soviet Union, genocide in the Balkans and terrorism in the name of Islam. Wasserstein focuses on politics and the economy, moving smoothly from Britain to Germany to Russia to Turkey and back, with a clear command of all the historical material. Cultural and gender issues receive occasional attention, as in his discussions of the status of women in the 1930s and 1960s. Wasserstein even takes his story up to the present, covering changes Muslim immigration has brought to the Continent. At all times, he displays a clear writing style and an admirable balance, two traits that make this a rare gem of contemporary scholarship. Wasserstein ends on a pessimistic note: while he sees greater tenderness toward the needy, he fears for the future in a post-Christian Europe without a moral compass and a vulgarized public discourse and aesthetics. Photos, maps. (Dec.)
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Review

"A very impressive historical synthesis. Wasserstein has a lovely brisk, dry style that keeps the pages turning. He is also a fine storyteller: His accounts of the great military and diplomatic set-pieces are not just well researched and thoughtful but fast-moving and exciting. As narrative histories of the last century go, this is as good as it gets."--Dominic Sandbrook, Literary Review

"A rare gem of contemporary scholarship.... A tour de force."--Publishers Weekly

"An admirable work of scholarly synthesis, which should be required reading...for anyone absorbed by the perplexing century we recently left behind.... Enjoyable as well as compelling."--Geoffrey Wheatcroft, The Spectator

"A comprehensive yet readable narrative that blends arresting detail with well-considered generalizations."--David Cesarani, Jewish Chronicle

"Wasserstein displays encyclopedic knowledge of his subject but has written far more than an encyclopedia.... His authoritative account of Europe's highs and lows over the past century will give readers everything they need."--Foreign Affairs

"A rich and broad-ranging synthesis... the book has a pleasing density and balance. Numerous plums enrich an always fluently written and insightful text that artfully conceals the amount of material that has been synthesized."--Mark Mazower, Times Literary Supplment

"Eloquent, exhaustive and highly learned, this book is both a considerable achievement and an enlivening read...a highly competent and impressive book."--John Bew, Times Higher Education Supplement

"By turns grim, humorous and surprising, this is a fascinating sweep of the century, covering war, politics, and social, cultural and economic change."--Belfast Telegraph

"A thoroughly engaging read, and one that is to be highly recommended." --The Journal of Modern History

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 928 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; First Edition edition (October 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198730748
• ISBN-13: 978-0198730743
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 2.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,371,810 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars More barbarism than civilization?, March 8, 2009

By 

Michael Tracy (Belgium, sometimes Spain) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Barbarism and Civilization: A History of Europe in Our Time (Hardcover)

Even a keen reader needs some incentive to buy and plough through a book of nine hundred pages (including notes, bibliography and index). There are after all other works which survey the history of Europe in the twentieth century, notably Hobsbawm's "Age of Extremes - the Short Twentieth Century" (1994) or the final chapters of Norman Davies' "Europe - A History" (also 1994). Admittedly, Wasserstein takes the story up to 2007, but that hardly justifies the entire volume. His accounts of each event are thorough - he is good, for example, on the origins of the First World War - but on most such events more specialised works can be found: indeed many are listed in his voluminous bibliography (which however does not seem to include either of the works just mentioned). It would be helpful if he indicated which parts of his work he regards as original, but this is not apparent. One could of course treat his very comprehensive work as a useful book of reference - the index is comprehensive - but that was probably not his aim.

The title "Barbarism and Civilization" suggests an interesting and potentially important theme, which in a shorter work might have been brought out more clearly. As it is, this gets lost in the mass of information. The barbaric disasters of the century are well enough known, from the horrors of trench warfare in the First World War through the Nazi holocaust and the devastation of the Second World War to the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s. Where, if anywhere, were the "civilizing" influences? Wasserstein concludes on a grimly pessimistic note. After discussing the decline of religion and the lack of an "alternative social morality", he writes: "Evil stalked the earth in this era, moving men's minds, ruling their actions, and begetting the lies, greed, deceit, and cruelty that are the stuff of the history of Europe in our time".

Fortunately, most Europeans can think of more positive factors. It is curious that he passes over, as of little significance, the movement towards greater integration between European states and peoples. One searches in vain in the "Contents" for a chapter, or at least a section, on the creation and development of the European Union: it turns up in scattered fragments, generally as a pendant to the actions of the individual nations, and any comment he makes tends to be critical. Clearly he does not understand the decision-making process of the EU - the Commission does not, for example, "work with" the Council of Ministers (p.461) - and consequently he fails to bring out the complex process by which national interests have gradually been attuned to common European priorities; nor does he discuss the role of the European Court of Justice in ensuring the pre-eminence of European laws in the areas to which they apply.

Yet: was it insignificant that France and Germany, having fought each other three times in eighty years, decided first to merge their vital coal and steel sectors, then to create a common market with common institutions? Was it not important that their initiative was followed, step by step, by almost all the Western European nations, that membership came to underpin democracy in the former dictatorships in Southern Europe and later to offer a refuge for the Eastern European countries shaking off their Communist regimes? Has it not been a civilizing influence that citizens can move freely from Ireland to Greece, from Finland to Portugal? or that the Erasmus programme (nowhere mentioned by Wasserstein) has enabled thousands of young people to study in countries other than their own? That, ultimately, and despite all the faults and limitations of its institutions, Europe - at least up to the frontiers of the former Soviet Union - has become an oasis of relative peace in a troubled world?

One feels, sadly, that Wasserstein after all his efforts has missed what might have made his work a real contribution to understanding, particularly on the part of readers in the USA.

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent 1 Volume History of 20th C. Europe, October 19, 2010

By 

D. S. Wellhauser (Republic of Korea) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Barbarism and Civilization: A History of Europe in Our Time (Paperback)

This was an excellent one volume history of Europe from 1914 to the early 21st century. If there were any weaknesses I would say this would be found in the author's treatment of the major dictators of the inter-war and war years ~ a little on the cliche side...no new observations which would help to flesh them out thereby offering a complexity that is generally missing.

But on the whole is the best one volume history of 20th century Europe that I have read to date. Highly recommended.

Some places are very readable and others drag a bit but taking the good with the bad this was an excellent read. It is long...almost 800 pages of text and over a hundred of endnotes, bibliography, index, etc...but if you have the time you should not be disappointed by the analysis.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the best I've ever read about europe and its value, May 14, 2010

By 

kyungsun - See all my reviews

This review is from: Barbarism and Civilization: A History of Europe in Our Time (Paperback)

This book shows quite instructively what we should learn from the history in the midst of EU fluctuating between hopes and worries recently.