Paperback

eBook

The Human Tradition in Modern Europe, 1750 to the Present

Edited by Cora Granata and Cheryl A. Koos

This engaging and humanizing text traces the development of Europe since the mid-eighteenth century through the lives of people of the time. Capturing key moments, themes, and events in the continent's turbulent modern past, the book explores how ordinary Europeans both shaped their societies and were affected by larger historical processes. By focusing on the lives of individual actors, both famous and obscure, students can gain a sense for how the well-known revolutions, wars, and social transformations of the modern era were experienced in private homes, work places, political forums, and on battlefields throughout the region.

Fittingly, the book opens with the French Revolution and concludes with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of Eastern European communism. Throughout, the contributors use compelling biographies to examine many of the major events and developments in European history, including the age of reaction and revolutions in the early nineteenth century; industrialization; Victorianism; new imperialism; fin de siècle culture; the first and second World Wars; the Russian Revolution; Italian fascism, Nazism, the Holocaust, and decolonization; Americanization; and the 1968 youth revolts.

Contributions by: Karin Breuer, Helen Harden Chenut, John Cox, Stephen P. Frank, Cora Granata, Maura E. Hametz, Michael Kilburn, Cheryl A. Koos, Robert A. McLain, Karen Petrone, Paolo Scrivano, Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall, Matthew G. Stanard, Michele M. Strong, and Patricia Tilburg

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 244 • Trim: 6 x 9

978-0-7425-5411-5 • Paperback • December 2007 • $50.00 • (£38.00)

978-1-4616-4437-8 • eBook • December 2007 • $47.50 • (£37.00)

Series: The Human Tradition around the World series

Subjects: History / Europe / General, History / Modern / 19th Century, History / Modern / 18th Century

The Human Tradition in Modern Europe, 1750 to the Present

Paperback

eBook

Summary

This engaging and humanizing text traces the development of Europe since the mid-eighteenth century through the lives of people of the time. Capturing key moments, themes, and events in the continent's turbulent modern past, the book explores how ordinary Europeans both shaped their societies and were affected by larger historical processes. By focusing on the lives of individual actors, both famous and obscure, students can gain a sense for how the well-known revolutions, wars, and social transformations of the modern era were experienced in private homes, work places, political forums, and on battlefields throughout the region.

Fittingly, the book opens with the French Revolution and concludes with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of Eastern European communism. Throughout, the contributors use compelling biographies to examine many of the major events and developments in European history, including the age of reaction and revolutions in the early nineteenth century; industrialization; Victorianism; new imperialism; fin de siècle culture; the first and second World Wars; the Russian Revolution; Italian fascism, Nazism, the Holocaust, and decolonization; Americanization; and the 1968 youth revolts.

Contributions by: Karin Breuer, Helen Harden Chenut, John Cox, Stephen P. Frank, Cora Granata, Maura E. Hametz, Michael Kilburn, Cheryl A. Koos, Robert A. McLain, Karen Petrone, Paolo Scrivano, Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall, Matthew G. Stanard, Michele M. Strong, and Patricia Tilburg

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 244 • Trim: 6 x 9

978-0-7425-5411-5 • Paperback • December 2007 • $50.00 • (£38.00)

978-1-4616-4437-8 • eBook • December 2007 • $47.50 • (£37.00)

Series: The Human Tradition around the World series

Subjects: History / Europe / General, History / Modern / 19th Century, History / Modern / 18th Century

Author

Cora Granata is associate professor of history at California State University, Fullerton. Cheryl A. Koos is associate professor of history at California State University, Los Angeles.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Chapter 1: The French Revolution: Defining the Nation: The Abbé Grégoire and the Problem of Diversity in the French Revolution
Chapter 2: The Age of Reaction and Revolutions in the Early Nineteenth Century: Arnold Ruge: Radicalism in a Reactionary Society
Chapter 3: Industrialization and the Rise of Marxism: The World of Textile Work: French Industrial Workers and the Labor Movement
Chapter 4: Victorian Culture and Travel Writing: Alison Cunningham: Victorian Leisure Travel, Religious Identity, and the Grand Tour Journal of a Domestic Servant
Chapter 5: New Imperialism: Strategies of Inclusion: Lajpat Rai and the Critique of British Raj
Chapter 6: Fin de Siècle Culture and the New Woman: Colette: The New Woman Takes the Stage in Belle Époque France
Chapter 7: World War I and Literary Responses: "All Quiet" on the Don and the Western Front: Mikhail Sholokhov and Erich Maria Remarque Respond to World War I
Chapter 8: Russian Revolution and the Soviet Union: "Ask the Doctor!:" Peasants and Medical-Sexual Advice in Riazon Province, 1925–1928
Chapter 9: Italian Fascism: In the Name of an Italian Widow: Nationalism, Patriotism, and Gender in Mussolini's Fascist Italy
Chapter 10: Nazism and the Holocaust: The Herbert Baum Groups: Networks of Jewish, Leftist, and Youth Resistance in the Third Reich
Chapter 11: Decolonization and Postcolonial Memory: Imperialists without an Empire: Cercles Coloniaux and Colonial Culture in Belgium after 1960
Chapter 12: Americanization and Postwar Modernization: Adriano Olivetti: Agent of the Italian-American Exchange in the Postwar Years
Chapter 13: 1968 Youth Revolts: Ab-Normalization: The Plastic People of the Universe and the Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia
Chapter 14: 1989 and the Collapse of the Soviet Bloc: Why Not All Germans Celebrated the Fall of the Berlin Wall: East German Jews and the Collapse of Communism

Reviews

Well-researched. . . . Bottom line: of greatest interest and utility for beginning students in survey courses. Recommended.
— Choice Reviews

This exciting collection of essays lends a fresh perspective on enduring themes that form the core of modern European history. It engages students in critical historical moments by highlighting the best of the human spirit in victories, small and large, against oppression or on behalf of creative and unusual paths to liberation.
— Elinor Accampo, University of Southern California

An ideal volume of selected readings for courses on Western civilization and modern Europe. The editors' introductions to each essay paint the broad picture, placing each in its historical context in a manner easily accessible to students. Taken together, the chapters illustrate the complexities and range of the human experience, paying attention to gender and race within a larger socio-political and cultural arena. The focus on individuals—on ordinary women and men as agents of historical change—makes this volume of original research unique and of great interest.
— Rachel Fuchs, Arizona State University

The Human Tradition in Modern Europe, 1750 to the Present

Edited by Cora Granata and Cheryl A. Koos

The Human Tradition in Modern Europe, 1750 to the Present

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