The Lost Decade? The 1950s in European History, Politics, Society and Culture - Tapa dura

"It is now widely recognized that the 1950s marked a hinge period in post-war European history. The current volume unites some of the most exciting cultural and intellectual historians to shed important light on some of the key changes that took place in European politics, society and culture. The book is a 'must-read' for all contemporary historians of Europe." - Stefan Berger, Professor of Modern German and Comparative European History, University of Manchester, United Kingdom "This stimulating collection illuminates an overlooked and forgotten decade. It draws on insightful interdisciplinary and transnational scholarship to challenge our preconceptions of the period. The perceptive contributions evaluate the significance of the fifties within a wider chronological and geographical perspective and argue persuasively that the importance of these years has yet to be fully recognised." - Hanna Diamond, Reader in French History, University of Bath, United Kingdom

This volume of essays explores the social, political and cultural legacies of a decade which has, until relatively recently, received scant scholarly attention. Sandwiched uncomfortably between the traumatic events of the Second World War and the dramatic changes of the 1960s, the 1950s appeared as seemingly transitional years, while they were in fact an astonishingly fecund period of reassessment and experimentation when traditional models were re-evaluated and new models were road-tested, to be either developed or rejected. An important intervention in the dynamic scholarly re-examination of the 1950s, this volume analyzes these years in relation to three broadly defined areas: historiography, politics and society, and culture. What emerges from all three parts of the volume is a vision of the 1950s as a decade which was to have a profound impact on post-war European identities in two key respects: as a time of accelerated European intellectual exchange and as a time of fertile receptivity to the 'new', variously formulated and contested across and within national borders. Written by experts in the field, the contributions to this volume represent some of the most exciting work on the 1950s currently being undertaken in Europe and the US. They combine high intellectual standards with accessibility and will appeal to academics, students and the general reader alike.