Ascenso y crisis

After the horrors of the first half of the 20th century, which Ian Kershaw described in his previous book as a "descent into hell", the years 1950 to 2017 brought peace and prosperity to most of Europe. Huge economic improvements transformed the continent, and the catastrophic period of the world wars seemed to be being left behind. Europe was then a divided continent and the destiny of Europeans was marked by the vagaries of the cold war and subjected to the insecurity engendered by the nuclear threat. In a complex evolution of ups and downs, there was also the collapse of the Soviet bloc, the disappearance of dictatorships or the reunification of Germany. But accelerated globalization brought new fragilities, and the impact of the interlocking crises after 2008 was the clearest warning to Europeans that there were no guarantees of peace and stability.