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'Brilliant ... this superb book is a frightening reminder of how fragile democracy has been' --Orlando Figes, Times
Review
'Original, thought-provoking, iconic'
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At a 'Congress of Dethroned Monarchs' held at Geneva in 192-Europe's erstwhile crowned heads tried to win back their old supporters. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
At a 'Congress of Dethroned Monarchs' held at Geneva in 192-Europe's erstwhile crowned heads tried to win back their old supporters. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
As a 58 year old Briton I learned a long time ago that the cartoon-style version of European History we were taught at school was nonsense. Representing Nazism as just collective madness or Stalin's tyranny as the product of "brain-washing" never made sense. Many of the ruling ideas of the early 20th c were followed through in all their brutal logic by those regimes.
Fantasies of racial superiority were just as popular in Britain, France and (especially) the USA. Sub-Darwinian ideas that conflict was necessary to maintain the blood-line and that poor or sub-normal people should be prevented from breeding were widespread throughout the Western world. Intellectuals of left, right and liberal tendencies were in love with dreams of the "march of progress" and historical predestination. Jews were widely despised and national purity conflicted with the problem of minorities.
Such a continent was full of dark possibilities which Mark Mazower deftly shows shaped the last century. We were not civilised by the flowering of our better nature but by exhaustion, the threat of atomic war and the partitioning of Europe by the victors of WW2.
Yet, at the end this book tastes of realism and not hopelessness. The fact that such lucid hindsight is possible and that all the fantasies of nationalism, liberalism and socialism have been found wanting suggests that Europe might find a humbler way of living with itself and the wider world.
"Dark Continent" is packed with enlightening quotations and allusions. The endnotes are comprehensive. Good value in terms of money and reading time.
Fantasies of racial superiority were just as popular in Britain, France and (especially) the USA. Sub-Darwinian ideas that conflict was necessary to maintain the blood-line and that poor or sub-normal people should be prevented from breeding were widespread throughout the Western world. Intellectuals of left, right and liberal tendencies were in love with dreams of the "march of progress" and historical predestination. Jews were widely despised and national purity conflicted with the problem of minorities.
Such a continent was full of dark possibilities which Mark Mazower deftly shows shaped the last century. We were not civilised by the flowering of our better nature but by exhaustion, the threat of atomic war and the partitioning of Europe by the victors of WW2.
Yet, at the end this book tastes of realism and not hopelessness. The fact that such lucid hindsight is possible and that all the fantasies of nationalism, liberalism and socialism have been found wanting suggests that Europe might find a humbler way of living with itself and the wider world.
"Dark Continent" is packed with enlightening quotations and allusions. The endnotes are comprehensive. Good value in terms of money and reading time.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an excellent short history of Europe in the C20, which reminds us that the current general commitment to democracy in the continent is a relatively recent phenomenon. The book is particuarly strong on the failure of liberal capitalism and "narrow" parliamentary democracy in the inter-war period. I liked the prominence given to regions (Eastern and Central Europe) which, from a British perspective, are often neglected. While I felt the treatment of the boom years of the 50s and 60s was also excellent, my only complaint is that the final passages about the 80s and 90s (collapse of Communism and former Yugoslavia) feel like something of an afterthought and that not enough is done to make connections between these events and the broad themes set out earlier in the book. But vg nevertheless.
39 of 41 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In this fascinating history, author Mark Mazower traces this history of Europe from the end of the First World War, through to when the book was written in 1998. This is not a list of dates and battles, but so much more than that. The author traces the evolution of Europe's thought, and as such culture. It begins with the 1920s' embrace of democracy and the rise of the minorities issue, continues with the 1930s' rejection of democracy, the rise and fall of the extreme Right in the 1940s, the evolution of the two halves of divided Europe, and on to Europe's post-Communist development.
I have read many, many history books; most being the standard list of names and dates, battles and elections. But every once in a while I encounter a fascinating book that goes into depth explaining how things developed and why. This book is definitely one of the latter. I especially enjoyed the inter-war period, which explained so much that was unclear to me; things like the development of the race issue, and the reasons behind the ethnic troubles that rocked so many middle and eastern European countries in that era.
This book gave me a lot of food for thought. If you like a book that makes you think, then I highly recommend that you get this one. It is a fascinating and highly informative look at post World War One Europe.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Good book
This book provided me with a good insight into the issues that it covers, very useful for my degree as it hightlights many key areas over the 20th century. Definatly worth a read.
Published 5 months ago by JonnyFairclough36
Great book.
When I was a student in the University, I wrote a thesis based on this book. I felt like I was studying history for the first time, I mean REALLY understanding what it is about. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Gia
paul cole
Having had, what could be described as, perhaps, an unorthodox, yet not unsuccessful application, to study a MA Contemporary History & Politics course at Birkbeck College, UCL, I... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Mr. P. Cole
A finely written, enjoyable but flawed History.
Dark Continent is, ostensibly, an account of European History from the aftermath of the First World War to around the conclusion of the Yugoslav wars in the mid-1990s, likely the... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Mr. George Lindars-hammond
Brilliant, concise and extremely thought provoking.
I recently purchased this for my course at University, and it is fantastic! It is very compelling! Mark is offering a different approach to European history to the one which is... Read more
Published 22 months ago by PB
Dark continet to a point
This is an excellent book with substantial footnotes. It provides great insights into this unexamined aspect of European history with fascinating facts and insights. Read more
Published on 8 Sep 2009 by Laska
brillaint and thought provoking
this book does lead you to wanting to know and find out more, including economic theories and practices. and yes, it is on the undergraduate reading list....... Read more
Published on 23 May 2002 by Brigitte Palmer
Europe painted black
This is an excellent book, well worth the time. On the other hand, it is not a good introduction to 20th C. Read more
Published on 13 Nov 2001 by S. Matthews
Original, insightful, provacative and easy to read.
Easily the best one-volume history of Europe available: original, insightful, provacative and easy to read.
Published on 1 Oct 2000
Masterly Mazower
Mazower's book, looking at the 20th Century in Europe, is a great read. Giving fascinating insights into the development of democracy and the threats that have menaced as well as... Read more
Published on 9 Jun 2000
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