LIFE AFTER DEATH: APPROACHES TO A CULTURAL AND SOCIAL HISTORY OF EUROPE DURING THE...; ED. BY RICHARD BESSEL

the long version

"This collection of essays offers a novel approach to thte cultural and social history of Europe after the Second World War. In a shift of perspective, it does not conceive of the impressive economic and political stability of the postwar era as a quasi-natural return to previous patterns of societal development but approaches it as an attempt to establish "normality" on the lingering memories of experienceing violence on a hitherto unprecedented scale. It views the relationship of the violence of the 1940s to the apparent "normality" and stability of the 1950s as a key to understanding the history of postwar Europe. Although the history of postwar Germany naturally looms large in this collection, the essays deal with countries across Western and Central Europe, offer comparative perspectives on their subjects, and draw on a wide range of primary and secondary source material."--Jacket.