20th Century Europe

About the Book

In terms of major events, the 20th century influences nations, regions, and peoples in profound and all-inclusive ways. It was a century of earth-shaking, contradictory events — great evil, genocide, and destruction on massive scales on the one hand, and, at the same time, inventions, discoveries, and political/social improvements which have improved the lives of billions of people. Most of the inventors and scientists, and, in too many cases, the worst tyrants, were Europeans. The pages within guide the reader on this exciting, often bloody, and yet hope-filled journey. Edgar B. Schick, Ph.D. Arthur Drea has written a compelling and readable primer of the utmost intellectual value to history students and the general public alike for a course in European History of the Twentieth Century. He achieves this desired effect with exactitude and concision, which match his course’s focus on just over one hundred years of causation leading to the contemporary state of European society and economy. Indeed, every tributary stream of events of this social, political, and economic type is seamlessly channeled into the main course of Drea’s explanation and analysis with the flawless timing that characterizes narrative history at its best. Edwin L. Hetfield, Jr., Ph.D.

About the Author

Arthur Drea has had a lifelong love of history. He has history and law degrees and was a Professor of Law and History at Baltimore International College. He lives in Annapolis, Maryland with his wife, Marilyn. This book, as the title suggests, is a brief but comprehensive summary of the most turbulent century in recent European history. It is an attempt to highlight: the drives of indigenous people for independence, two great world wars, irreversible changes in world powers, and the causes and results of historic economic movements. It will be of interest to students and generally to those who want the big picture of a complicated and dynamic period that impacts us all to this day.