Eastern Europe Since 1945 (Making of the Modern World S.)

This essential text provides an engaging overview of the complex developments in Eastern Europe from 1945 to the present day. Tracing the origins of the socialist experiment, de-Stalinisation, and the transition from socialism to capitalism, it explores the key events in each nation’s recent history. This new edition has been fully revised to include the latest scholarship and places greater emphasis on everyday life in Eastern Europe. While continuing to analyse the major political events, the authors now draw on social and cultural history to build up a picture of what it was like to live under socialism, why the system became unbearable in the late 80s, and how individuals experienced the rebirth of capitalism.

Since its first appearance in 1993, Eastern Europe since 1945 has become an essential text for university students and others keen to understand the complex developments in the region over the last sixty years. This fourth edition has been fully revised, updated and expanded in order to incorporate new material and the events that have taken place since the publication of the previous edition.

Covering all the countries which comprise Eastern Europe, Geoffrey and Nigel Swain provide a clear account of:
· the origins of the socialist experiment
· the 1956 crisis of de-Stalinisation
· how society and economy operated between 1956 and 1989, the years of 'actually existing socialism'.
Drawing on what is now a perspective of twenty years, the authors identify trends in the transition from socialism to capitalism and explore the important role played by the prospect of EU membership in shaping the politics of what was once Eastern European capitalism. The new edition also features helpful suggestions for reading to aid further study.