The highly anticipated study by renowned academic Ian Kershaw on the critical years of World War I and II, the first part of a two-volume history of modern Europe.

In the summer of 1914, much of Europe was plunged into a war so destructive that it left survivors horrified, shaken by the fact that a civilization that considered itself a model for the rest of the world had collapsed into such brutality. By 1939, Europeans embarked on a second conflict that became even worse—a war where the extermination of civilians was a central goal and, in its aftermath, violence continued to shape the divided continent that emerged.

The long European catastrophe, this unimaginably dramatic, traumatic yet captivating period from 1914 to 1949, was unprecedented in human history. The book attributes it to four major causes: an explosion of ethnic nationalism, bitter and irreconcilable territorial disputes, acute class conflicts brought to the forefront by the Russian Revolution, and a prolonged crisis of capitalism.

Combining his unique expertise with compelling prose, award-winning British historian Ian Kershaw narrates the story of these events with inspiration, originality, and humanity. He outlines the individuals responsible for the critical decisions and brings to light the violent reverberations of the war that radically changed the course of European and world history.

And he does not shy away from the difficult questions that arise: what did it mean for Europeans to initiate and live through such terrible times—and what does it mean for us today.