Ruin and Renewal: Civilising Europe after the Second World War, by Paul Betts

Abstract

This book provides an excellent example of how historical research can reflect the Zeitgeist while also explaining how we got to where we are now. This is by no means the first book to capture the detail and spirit of post-Second World War Europe, however; and several books on this subject, such as those by Mark Mazower and Tony Judt, represent scholarship at its very best. Yet no post-1945 study has managed to achieve what Paul Betts has achieved here. By bringing together cultural, social and political research with a conceptual modern history of European civilisation, and by adopting a truly transnational perspective, Betts has managed to produce a highly original piece of work that sheds new light on Europe after the Second World War. The book is distinctive in several ways. First, it adopts what might be described as a case-study approach. This is most visible in the early chapters. To give a flavour of themes covered, these chapters include sections on anti-communism, the war crimes trials, military occupation, the post-1945 family, peace movements, housing, etiquette, and the role of social and religious groups. Secondly, the author makes excellent use of cultural content, drawing on both photography and architecture to provide evidence of post-war renewal. These sections of the book are fascinating. Finally, and perhaps most distinctive of all, is Betts’s global take on European history. This is the preserve of the second half of the book, and is the more original part of the project. It steps back from the domestic European scene to view Europe from an international standpoint, with particular attention given to relations with Africa. For example, it shows how, in the period after 1945, European states engaged in what was ultimately an unsuccessful effort at re-colonisation (challenging the prevailing view that post-1945 Europe was all about peace). In an entirely original contribution, this part of the book also demonstrates how East European states sought to cultivate cultural and economic relationships with African leaders, while arguing that socialist engagement with Africa inhabited a moral high-ground far above that of the imperialist West. Betts also gives voice to African perspectives on Europe, in a nuanced way that reflects inter- and intra-state debates and disagreements as to how much European cultural and political influence post-independence African countries should retain.