Fire and Blood: The European Civil War, 19141945

(Paperback)

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Fire and Blood looks at the European crisis of the two world wars as a single historical sequence: the age of the European Civil War (1914-1945). Its overture was played out in the trenches of the Great War; its coda on a ruined continent. It opened with conventional declarations of war and finished with "unconditional surrender." Proclamations of national unity led to eventual devastation, with entire countries torn to pieces. During these three decades of deepening conflicts, a classical interstate conflict morphed into a global civil war, abandoning rules of engagement and fought by irreducible enemies rather than legitimate adversaries, each seeking the annihilation of its opponents. It was a time of both unchained passions and industrial, rationalized massacre. Utilizing multiple sources, Enzo Traverso depicts the dialectic of this era of wars, revolutions and genocides. Rejecting commonplace notions of "totalitarian evil," he rediscovers the feelings and reinterprets the ideas of an age of intellectual and political commitment when Europe shaped world history with its own collapse.

Reviews

Enzo Traverso's investigation is based on a brilliant--although controversial--idea. It is an
important book that deserved vast and interesting debates. -- Saul Friedlnder
One must admire Traverso's ambitious synthesis of theory and recent scholarship. -- Shelley Baranowski, University of Akron
[T]his book ... cannot be neglected by anyone with the temerity to approach the subject in
future. -- Al Richardson * Revolutionary History *
Enzo Traverso's provocative book poses a profoundly important question to modern history. How can we understand the "age of extremes" (1914 to 1945) from a present - our present day in the west - that is in general terms allergic to "ideology" and convinced that "there is no alternative" What happens when an anodyne and self-satisfied liberalism projects its values back into an era of intense political struggle -- Adam Tooze * Guardian *
In tracing the historical origins and logic of this civil war, Traverso offers a powerful indictment of how the collective memory of it emerged over time in ways that are still felt today. -- Daniel Egan * Socialism and Democracy *

Author Bio

Enzo Traverso taught political science for almost twenty years in France. Since 2013, he has been Susan and Barton Winokur Professor in the Humanities at Cornell University. His publications, all translated into various languages, include more than ten authored and edited books, including The Marxists and the Jewish Question, The Jews and Germany, Understanding the Nazi Genocide and The Origins of Nazi Violence.