What do we mean by social and cultural change? What is the nature of total war? How do wars come to happen? What are the consequences of war? In exploring these four key themes, this collection provides a major resource for the study of 20th century war and defence in European history and exemplifies different historical methods and approaches. The authors are drawn from a range of disciplines including those of economics, literature and the arts as well as military, social and political history, and together they raise some of the most significant problems and debates in the study of history. The essays range from standard seminal works by Stanley Hoffmann, Arno J. Mayer and Charles Maier to more recent contributions by Richard Bessell, Mark Harrison and Hew Strachan.

A collection of essays supported by statistics on the social consequences of the two world wars. It covers the main European countries and a range of major issues including the levels of economic activity, women's employment and the extent of executions of collaborators.

The author maintains that modern attitudes toward total war were conceived during the Napoleonic era; and argues that all the elements of total war were evident including conscription, unconditional surrender, disregard for basic rules of war, mobilization of civilians, and guerrilla warfare.

Taking the Soviet collapse - the most cataclysmic event of the recent past - as a case study, this text engages students in the exercise of historical analysis, interpretation and explanation. In exploring the question posed by the title, the author introduces and applies such organizing concepts as great power conflict, imperial decline, revolution, ethnic conflict, colonialism, economic development, totalitarian ideology, and transition to democracy in a most accessible way. Questions and controversies, and extracts from documentary and literary sources, anchor the text at key points. This book is intended for use in history and political science courses on the Soviet Union or more generally on the 20th century.

"Published for The British Academy by Oxford University Press"--Title page.