Forging Democracy: The Left and the Struggle for Democracy in Europe, 1850-2000

Democracy in Europe has been a recent phenomenon. Only in the wake of World War II were democratic frameworks secured, and, even then, it was decades before democracy truly blanketed the continent. Neither given nor granted, democracy requires conflict, often violent confrontations, and challenges to the established political order. In Europe, Geoff Eley convincingly shows, democracy did not evolve organically out of a natural consensus, the achievement of prosperity, or the negative cement of the Cold War. Rather, it was painstakingly crafted, continually expanded, and doggedly defended by varying constellations of socialist, feminist, Communist, and other radical movements that originally blossomed in the later nineteenth century. Parties of the Left championed democracy in the revolutionary crisis after World War I, salvaged it against the threat of fascism, and renewed its growth after 1945. They organized civil societies rooted in egalitarian ideals which came to form the very fiber of Europe's current democratic traditions. The trajectories of European democracy and the history of the European Left are thus inextricably bound together. Geoff Eley has given us the first truly comprehensive history of the European Left--its successes and failures; its high watermarks and its low tides; its accomplishments, insufficiencies, and excesses; and, most importantly, its formative, lasting influence on the European political landscape. At a time when the Left's influence and legitimacy are frequently called into question, Forging Democracy passionately upholds its vital contribution.

Table of Contents:
AND THE PEOPLE ; PART ONE: MAKING DEMOCRACY SOCIAL: PREPARING THE FUTURE ; CLASS ; HISTORY ; PART TWO: REVOLUTIONARY EUROPE, 1914-1923 ; THE LEFT, 1914-17 ; 1917-23 ; PART THREE: STABILISATION AND THE "WAR OF POSITION" ; DEMOCRACY ; COUNTRY ; RETREAT ; NATION, 1939-47 ; THE COLD WAR, 1945-56 ; PART FOUR: FUTURE IMPERFECT ; DEMOCRACY ; 1989

About the Author :
Geoff Eley is Professor of History at the University of Michigan. He is the author and editor of many books on British and German history, including Reshaping the German Right: Radical Nationalism and Political Change after Bismarck.

Review :
"A tour de force written with panache and commitment will keep the reader spellbound throughout its almost 700 pages. it is surely a sign of a truly great book that its readers will want to take issue with it, argue with it and engage with it in manifold ways."-- Journal of Cold War Studies "Overall, Eley has written a remarkable book that recounts a sweeping history."--Journal of Modern History "There is nothing, to my knowledge, in the scholarly literature on the history of the Left to compare with it in comprehensiveness, forceful interpretation, and historiographical mastery. It is a noble achievement."--Central European History Geoff Eley is to be commended for bringing together in one volume a wealth of information on the history of Europe's "Left."--Science & Society "A magisterial overview...sweeping no just in its chronological but also its geographic scope. Forging Democracy will certainly rank with Hobsbawm's Age of Extremes as one of the lasting political histories of the (very) long twentieth century."--Contemporary Sociology "Displays formidable erudition. A college library must."--CHOICE "[A]dmirable tome....scholars and graduate students will find Eley's work a welcome addition to their reference shelf of standard works on European history....A genuinely pan-European dimension befitting both the nature of the subject and the times in which it was written....Ely's book is essential reading."--American Historical Review "Overall, Eley has written a remarkable book that recounts a sweeping history."--Journal of Modern History "A tour de force written with panache and commitment will keep the reader spellbound throughout its almost 700 pages. it is surely a sign of a truly great book that its readers will want to take issue with it, argue with it and engage with it in manifold ways."-- Journal of Cold War Studies "Geoff Eley is to commended for bringing together in one volume a wealth of information on the history of Europe's "Left."--Science & Society "A magisterial overview...sweeping no just in its chronological but also its geographic scope. Forging Democracy will certainly rank with Hobsbawm's Age of Extremes as one of the lasting political histories of the (very) long twentieth century."--Contemporary Sociology "A work 'written from great passion and great regret.' It is also an amazing synthesis of the historical literature . This book should inspire scholars as well as furnish an excellent resource for students in modern European history." - The Historian "There is nothing, to my knowledge, in the scholarly literature on the history of the Left to compare with it in comprehensiveness, forceful interpretation, and historiographical mastery. It is a noble achievement."--Central European History "Displays formidable erudition. A college library must."--CHOICE "[A]dmirable tome....scholars and graduate students will find Eley's work a welcome addition to their reference shelf of standard works on European history....A genuinely pan-European dimension befitting both the nature of the subject and the times in which it was written....Ely's book is essential reading."--American Historical Review "Combining the learning and analysis of the historian with the commitment of the student radical of 1968,Geoff Eley has written a manifesto of hope in democracy, and a long, regretful good-bye to the movements of the Left which, for 150 years, gave it its reality. Those who want to understand the history of Europe since 1848 will do well to read this wide-ranging and multinational survey, written with both thoght and feeling."-- Eric Hobsbawm FBA, Amer.Academy of Arts & Sciences, Emeritus Professor "Ranging over a century and a half and the entire continent of Europe, and with a cast of characters including unionists, feminists, radical intellectuals, political radicals, and many others, this remarkable book offers a much-needed account of the history of European radicalism. And it provides essential historical background for the rethinking of purposes and intellectual premises in which the European--and American--Left is now engaged."- Eric Foner "A remarkable feat--a clear, balanced history of left politics which includes social and cultural movements from women's liberation to proletarian nudism, from Bolshevik street theater to New Age travellers. Geoff Eley covers the well-known international events along with the suppressed and marginalized. His long view defies forgetfulness and suggest that what will be found relevant in the future is always unexpected."-- Sheila Rowbotham