The Global Age: Europe 1950–2017

Kershaw's sequel to his history of the two world wars (To Hell and Back) poses narrative challenges the first book did not: a divided Europe, especially with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, both in 1991. Since then, the continent has experienced a wave of change: the emergence of a global economy along with a major recession, increasing immigration, and the rise of far-right political parties. Earlier solutions to social issues, grounded in Keynesianism, are no longer sustainable, especially with the prevalence of neoconservatism. Now the future is unsure. In earlier writings on the Third Reich, Kershaw argued that structural changes played a greater role in Adolf Hitler's rise than did Hitler himself, but he understands the power a properly placed individual holds at points, such as Mikhail Gorbachev and the collapse of the Soviet empire. This is a generous history—truly Europe-wide, and not just western Europe writ large. Readers will learn a great deal about countries such as Bulgaria, Romania, and Finland as well.