The modernist wish : a history of Europe, 1914-1939 / Geoff Eley

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Eley, Geoff, 1949- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Europe--Social conditions--20th century.

Europe.

Europe--Politics and government--20th century.

Europe--History--1918-1945.

Europe--History--1871-1918.

Europe--Civilization--20th century.

Social conditions.

Politics and government.

Civilization.

Genre:

History

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2026

Summary:

"As the 20th century recedes, how should its history be written? The 1920s and 1930s were a time of paradox, of great conflict and contradiction. If those years were the crucible of a new metropolitan modernity and its possibilities, what were the forward-moving forces and ideas? What were their effects and where did they lead? The Modernist Wish provides a comprehensive, non-hierarchical and integrated history of Europe's early 20th century across the whole of the continent. Uniting social, cultural-intellectual, and political history alongside military-strategic and geopolitical dimensions, Geoff Eley examines the distinctiveness of early-20th century modernity. He draws out the exceptional character of the interwar years and their longer-run social and political fallout, based in the excitements of metropolitan living, the progressive achievements of an industrialized machine world, and the material possibilities for fashioning new forms of selfhood. In presenting a truly European history for our time, this study encompasses both the grand narratives of large-scale transformations, and the everyday realities of individual lived experiences"-- Cambridge Core

Contents:

Preface : Europe after war and revolution, 1914-1939

Prelude : Europe on the cusp of the modern

A new kind of war, 1914-1918 : Mass killing and its effects

A new kind of war : Complete mobilization

Socialist challenge, counter-revolutionary response, 1917-1923

Territories, nations, and states : Redrawing the map of Europe, 1914-1923

National bodies, new women, damaged men

Modernity and its discontents I : Estrangement and possibility

Popular culture and intellectual life : Entertainment, improvement, contestation

Modernity and its discontents II : Art, literature, aesthetics

Intellectuals, emancipation, and the self : Learning to be modern

Modernity and its futures : Science, technology, planning

Europe in the world, 1914-1940 : Colony and empire

Empire at home : Race and the color line

Capitalism in trouble, Europe in depression : Breakdown, 1929-1936

Fascism, strong states, and the challenge of democracy : A Europe of dictators, 1922-1939

Crisis after crisis, 1931-1938

Back to war, 1938-1939

Conclusion : What is to come?

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index

Online resource; title from PDF title page (Cambridge Core, viewed May 4, 2026)

Other Format:

Print version: Eley, Geoff, 1949- Modernist wish

ISBN:

9781009761543

1009761544

9781139020053

1139020056

OCLC:

1585500455

Publisher Number:

CIPO000365010

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license