Includes bibliographical references (p. [292]-300) and index.

Introduction : Europe's troubles -- The war and its legacy -- Europe between the powers, 1945-1953 -- Restoration, reconstruction and revolution : Europe, 1945-1950 -- Consolidating Western Europe, 1950-1963 -- Western Europe in the 1960s -- The Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, from 1953 to the 1970s -- Western Europe in the 1970s : downturn and détente -- Western Europe in the 1980s : the era of Thatcher, Mitterrand and Kohl -- European integration : from Rome to Maastricht, 1957-1992 -- The fall of the communist regimes : the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, 1980-1991 -- Europe after the Cold War -- Europe in the new millennium -- Conclusion.