Drawing examples from across the European continent and exploring all facets from politics and economy to culture, the author provides a panoramic illumination of the unexpected, adventurous journey that has brought us here – and which foreshadows an equally unpredictable continuation.

After the "hell of two wars" that marked the first half of the 20th century – as described by Ian Kershaw in his previous book – the years from 1950 to 2017 brought peace and relative prosperity to most of Europe. As enormous economic changes transformed the continent, the destructive past began to recede, although its long shadow continued to shape mindsets.

Now Europe was a divided continent, under the threat of nuclear destruction. And Europeans experienced a period not of linear development but of successive upheavals, in the sense that they often found themselves caught in a whirlwind of events that foretold destruction, but also that they were no longer responsible for their destiny, but rather at the mercy of the Cold War game defined by the USA and the USSR.

In this erratic path from one era of insecurity to another, there were historical breakthroughs, such as the dissolution of the Soviet bloc or the reunification of Germany, but also new cumulative crises brought about after 2008 by accelerating globalization.