This book tells the dramatic story of the economic, social, political, and cultural transformation of Europe during the transition from the Cold War to the European Union. Ivan Berend charts, in particular, the overwhelming impact of the collapse of communism on every aspect of European life. Europe became safer and more united, and Central and Eastern Europe started on the difficult road to economic modernization. However, the western half of Europe also changed. European integration gained momentum. The single market and the common currency were introduced, and the Union enlarged from nine to twenty-seven countries. This period also saw a revolution in information and communication technology, the increasing impact of globalization and the radical restructuring of the political system. The book explores the impact of all of these changes as well as the new challenges posed by the economic crisis of 2008–9 and asks which way now for Europe?

'This important book is contemporary history as it should be written. Against a triple background of central European, communist-era and US experience, Ivan Berend displays and critically analyses the situation and prospects of Europe, especially since the integration of the ex-communist states. He does so with his unique combination of information, lucidity, realism and sweeping historical perspective. One cannot fail to learn from, and sometimes to be surprised by, this coolly comparative diagnosis of Europe's problems.'

Eric Hobsbawm - Birkbeck College, University of London

'Few historians have such an excellent grasp as Ivan T. Berend of Europe's most recent economic, social and political history. This is a major and easily accessible contribution to our understanding of Europe's transition from a divided to an integrated, albeit still fragmented continent.'

Wolfram Kaiser - University of Portsmouth

'A book like this, which surveys the most recent thirty years of European history, is long overdue. Berend is cautiously optimistic about the future of eastern Europe; guarded about the prospect of progress toward a federal union - though supportive of the effort; acutely aware that in a coming age likely to be increasingly shaped by India and China, Europe’s world power will wane; and, finally, confident that, as in the past, Europe will manage to cope with the big challenges that loom ahead.'

John Gillingham - University of Missouri, St Louis