European Identity and the Second World War

The two concepts at the centre of this book: Europe, and the Second World War, are constantly changing in public perception. Now that 'Europe' is an even more contested idea than ever, this volume informs the current discourse on European identity by analysing Europe's reaction to the tragedy, heroism and disgrace of the Second World War.

Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations Preface Acknowledgements Notes on the Contributors Introduction Ideals, Identity and War: the Idea of Europe, 1939-70; M.Wintle PART I: WORLD WAR II, EUROPE AND HUMAN RIGHTS Human Rights and European Identity since World War II: Vergangenheitsbewältigung through Law; H.Porsdam Before Integration: Human Rights and Post-war Europe; H.Schulz-Forberg From War Talk to Rights Talk: Exile Politics, Human Rights, and the Two World Wars ; J.Winter PART II: REFLECTIONS: NARRATIVES OF EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION AND WORLD WAR II Myth and History in European Post-War History Writing; J.Ifversen From Nazi Legacy to Cold War: British Perceptions of European Identity, 1945-5; W.Webster The Nordic Way Out: Europe in Danish Literature after the Second World War ; H.van der Liet 'Europe is the Country of the Spirit': Albert Camus and Europeanism in France, 1944-47; M.van Montfrans PART III: VISIONS: PLANS FOR A NEW EUROPE AFTER WORLD WAR II The Ventotene Manifesto: the Crisis of the Nation State and the Political Identity of Europe; M.D'Auria Max Kohnstamm's New Europe; A.van Heerikhuizen Atoms for Europe; M.Spiering Before Self-Reflexivity: Imperialism and Colonialism in the Early Discourses of European Integration; W.Schmale PART IV: SHOAH, WAR AND EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION Holocaust Literature and the Shaping of European Identity after the Second World War: the Case of Jorge Semprún; K-M.Simonsen Goodbye to All That? Jewish Views of Europe after 1945; I.Zwiep Language out of Darkness: George Steiner Speaking the Unspeakable; R.G.Soeiro Index

About the Author :
MATTHEW D'AURIA Teaching Fellow in the German Department, Centre for European Studies at University College London, UK ANNEMARIE VAN HEERIKHUIZEN Lecturer in the Department of European Studies, the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands JAN IFVERSEN Associate Professor of European Studies and Head of History and Regional Studies, Aarhus University, Denmark HENK VAN DER LIET Chair in Scandinavian Studies, the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands MANET VAN MONTFRANS Lecturer in Modern European and French Literature, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands HELLE PORSDAM Chair of American Studies, the University of Copenhagen, Denmark WOLFGANG SCHMALE Chair in Modern and Contemporary History, Vienna University, Austria HAGEN SCHULZ-FORBERG Assistant Professor in International History, Aarhus University, Denmark KAREN-MARGRETHE L. SIMONSEN Associate Professor of Comparative Literature, Aarhus University, Denmark RICARDO GIL SOEIRO Researcher, the Centre for Comparative Studies, the University of Lisbon, Portugal MENNO SPIERING Lecturer in the Department of European Studies, the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands WENDY WEBSTER Professor of Contemporary British History, the University of Central Lancashire, UK JAY WINTER Charles J. Stille Professor of History, Yale University, USA MICHAEL WINTLE Professor of European History, the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands IRENE ZWIEP Chair in Hebrew and Jewish studies, the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Review :
"This book presents several answers to the question why the project of European integration was initiated and took off after the Second World War. It is a most valuable publication for all who are interested in European identity, both its prerequisites and possibilities. It is invaluable for any serious consideration of the context and beginning of the European integration project in the 1950s." (Mats Andren, The European Legacy, Vol. 21 (5-6), April, 2016)