The Inter-War Crisis is a concise yet analytical overview of the rapidly-changing world between 1918 and 1939, covering the political, economic and social instability that resulted from the First World War and the eventual descent towards the fresh upheaval of the Second World War.
Revised throughout and containing a new range of illustrations, this third edition covers topics such as the Russian Revolution, the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the concepts of the ‘end of civilization‘ and the decline of the West, cultural and scientific responses to an age of anxiety and fear, and the ways in which dictatorship came to replace democracy across so much of Europe. Global in focus, it offers thematic discussions, close analysis of a range of case studies and a clear over-arching narrative structure that guides the reader from the close of one war to the beginning of the next.
Also including a selection of over thirty primary source documents, maps, a chronology of events, a glossary of key terms, a Who’s Who of important figures and an extensive and updated guide to further reading, this book is an essential introduction for students of the inter-war period.
List of figures
List of tables
Maps
Chronology
Who’s Who
PART ONE: THE BACKGROUND
1. WHAT KIND OF CRISIS?
PART TWO: ANALYSIS
2. REVOLUTION AND COUNTER-REVOLUTION
The Russian Revolution
Exporting the Revolution
The Failure of Revolution
3. A CRISIS OF MODERNIZATION
The Challenge of Modernity
The Conservative Revolt
4. THE ‘END OF CIVILIZATION’
Decline of the West
Science and Civilization
Women, Sex and Moral Decline
Psychoanalysis and the Modern Malaise
War and Civilization
5. THE ‘GREAT CRASH’: CAPITALISM IN CRISIS
The Causes of the Crash
The Effects of the Recession
The Search for Recovery
The End of Capitalism?
6. DEMOCRACY AND DICTATORSHIP
The Decline of Democracy
The Appeal of Dictatorship
The ‘New Order’ in Politics
7. THE INTERNATIONAL CRISIS
The Unsettled Peace
The World Crisis
The Slide to War
PART THREE: ASSESSMENT
8. THE CHALLENGE OF PROGRESS
PART FOUR: DOCUMENTS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Contemporary Sources, Memoirs
Revolution and Counter-Revolution
Modernization and Crisis
A Crisis of Civilization
The Inter-War Economy
Democracy and Dictatorship
The International Crisis
General Books
Glossary
References
Index
Biography
Richard Overy is Professor of History at the University of Exeter. He has authored and edited more than 30 books on the European dictators, the Second World War and the history of air power, including Origins of the Second World War (2016, fourth edition), The Air War 1939-1945 (2006, second edition), Why the Allies Won (2006, second edition), The Dictators: Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia (2004), which won both the Wolfson and the Hessell Tiltman Prizes for History in 2005, and 1939: Countdown to War (2009). His book The Bombing War: Europe 1939-1945 (2013) won a Cundill Award for historical literature.
"Scholars and educators alike will welcome the revised third edition of Richard Overy’s The Inter-War Crisis, a concise and intelligent narrative of the events, ideologies, and convulsions of the years 1919-1945. The integration of primary documents and supporting resources into a jargon-free, thematically coherent account makes this an ideal text for today’s undergraduates, while Overy’s nuanced and careful interpretation reflects the latest thinking among scholars of this crucial period. Overy’s willingness to take the story outside of the West where appropriate makes this text my first choice for courses in contemporary global history, as well as modern Europe."
Susan Hinely, Stony Brook University, USA
"This is an excellent introduction to the inter-war period, with clear and concise text, insightful coverage of all the major events and trends, and a useful collection of primary sources and additional materials. Overy’s work is a must read for any student aproaching this topic for the first time."
Katy Turton, Queen's University Belfast, UK
