'Excellent ... much to ponder' Financial Times
'Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the world of today' - Margaret MacMillan, author of War: How Conflict Shaped Us
'A masterpiece' David Motadel, author of Revolutionary World
1945. Europe lies in ruins - its cities and towns destroyed by conflict, its economies crippled, its societies ripped apart by war and violence. In the wake of the physical devastation came profound moral questions: how could Europe - once proudly confident of its place at the heart of the 'civilised world' - have done this to itself? And what did it mean that it had?
In the years that followed, Europeans - from politicians to refugees, poets to campaigners, religious leaders to communist revolutionaries - tried to make sense of what had happened, and to forge a new concept of civilisation that would bring peace and progress to a broken continent. As they wrestled with questions great and small - from the legacy of colonialism to workplace etiquette - institutions and shared ideals emerged which still shape our world today.
Rich with original sources and individual voices, this is a gripping, authoritative account of how Europe rose from the ashes of the Second World War - and forged itself anew.

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Table of contents
- Cover
- Also by Paul Betts
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- Introduction: Old World Made New
- one Call to Alms
- two Punishment and Pity
- three Faith and Frontiers
- four Science, Shelter and Civility
- five Empire Reclaimed
- six Decolonisation and African Civilisation: Ghana, Algeria and Senegal
- seven World Civilisation
- eight Socialism’s Civilising Mission in Africa
- nine Religion, Race and Multiculturalism
- Conclusion: New Iron Curtains
- Afterword and Acknowledgements
- Notes
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Yes, you can access Ruin and Renewal by Paul Betts in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & European History. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.