Fischer offers a captivating analysis of Europe s turbulenthistory during the first half of the twentieth century, from theoptimism at the turn of the century to the successive waves ofdestruction of the First and Second World Wars. * Written by a leading authority in this field, the book drawsupon his areas of expertise * Reflects the most recent scholarship in this period ofhistory * While laying stress on Europe's major powers and theseminal events of the earlier twentieth century, Fischer paysdue attention to the smaller European countries from the Atlanticto the Black Sea and the Baltic to the Mediterranean * Extends beyond the political, sociological, and economicparadigms to include extensive references to the European culturalscene * Organized both as a broad chronology and thematically, in orderto allow for historical insights and entry into the key debates andliterature