Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of nationalism, Revised edition, Verso Books, London, 1991, 224 pp., ISBN 0860915468

Anderson presents a masterful and thorough examination of the social, political and cultural forces that shaped the development of nations and nationalism.

Raymond Aron, The Opium of the Intellectuals [original edition: L'Opium des intellectuels, Calmann-Lévy, Paris, 1955], Transaction, 2000.

The new edition of Aron's masterpiece includes the author's essay defending Opium from its critics.

Isaiah Berlin, Four Essays on Liberty, Oxford University Press, 1969, 213 pp. (incl. index), ISBN 0-19-282-034-0

These essays, selected and prefaced by Berlin, on Political Ideas in the Twentieth Century, on Historical Inevitability, Two Concept of Liberty, and on John Stuart Mill deal with various aspects of individual liberty. Berlin's thought is characterised by superbly argued rejection of determinism and incisive defence of the notion of human freedom and responsibility.

Isaiah Berlin (ed. H. Hardy), Three Critics of the Enlightenment: Vico, Hamann, Herder, Pimlico, London, 2000/ Princeton University Press, 382 pp., ISBN 0691057273

The book collects Berlin's earlier monographs Vico and Herder and The Magus of the North, and offers, with its great insight both in the work and in the intellectual context of these three key figures, an impressive perspective on the erosion of the Enlightenment.

Jean-Paul Bled, François-Joseph, Fayard, Paris 1987, 766 pp (English translation by Teresa Bridgeman, Basil Blackwell, Oxford UK & Cambridge USA, 1992, 359 pp. Incl. notes, chronology, bibliography, index), ISBN 0-631-16778-1 *

Superbly written and well documented biography, a standard work combining deep understanding of Franz Joseph with outstanding knowledge of the social, political, economic and cultural developments of the Austro-Hungarian empire. The monumental biography covers the long reign of Franz Joseph (1848 – 1916). The author demonstrates that, far from having played a mere representative role, the emperor was in the centre of most decision-making in internal as well as international affairs. Bled provides a vivid insight in the complicated mechanisms of power in the Dual Monarchy in its best period.

Marc Bloch, Apologie pour l'histoire, ou Métier d'historien, 1949, Colin, Paris 1997, 160 pp. ISBN 2-200-01694-8 *

A beautifully written classic by the founder of the Annales school of historiography. Bloch moves from considerations about the relation between past and present, or why we should study history at all, to a polemical discussion of the nature of historical understanding and the need for "total history" integrating politics, culture, society and geography. The newest English-language edition of the Historian's Craft contains a useful ten-page introduction by Peter Burke.

Fernand Braudel, La Méditerranée et le monde méditerranéen a l’époque de Philippe II , 662 pp. *

A comprehensive study of Mediterranean culture, society, and economy during the 16^th century by one of the leading historians of the Annales school. Braudel describes the influence of climate, topography, distance, trade fairs, and battles on historical change.

E. Cameron, The European Reformation, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1991, 564 pp., ISBN 0-19-873094-2

Using recent research, Cameron provides a thematic and narrative synthesis of the events and ideas of the Reformation. He examines its social and religious background, its teachers and their message and explores its impact on contemporary society.

Norman Cohn, Europe's Inner Demons, Sussex University Press, 1975; Paladin. Granada Publishing, 1976, paperback., 302 pp (incl. notes and index), ISBN 586 08235 2 *

Combining scrupulous scholarship with great understanding of the influence of fantasy and myth on human behaviour, the eminent British historian provides sharp insight into the history and mechanisms of with-hunts of 16^th and 17^th centuries.

Norman Cohn, Warrant for Genocide: The Myth of the Jewish world-conspiracy and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Harper & Row, New York, 1967 *

A classic study of history of forgery and political paranoia and of its effects.

R. J. Crampton, Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century. London & New York: Routledge, 1994, paperback edition 1997, 536 pp. *

The book deals with the history of Eastern Europe from the Baltic states to the Balkans, from World War I till the end of communist rule. Crampton focuses on the internal development of the Eastern European states, the economic changes and party politics. He combines a extensive knowledge with a profound understanding, which makes this very detailed, but well organised book a reliable and remarkably readable guide through 20^th century East European history.

István Deák et al, Europe on Trial. The Politics of Retribution in Europe. World War II and its aftermath, Princeton University Press, 2000, paperback, 368 pp., ISBN 069-1009-538 *

A group of internationally renowned scholars investigate a historically unique effort to grapple with the war crimes and crimes against humanity many Europeans had committed. This highly useful book sheds light on the collective amnesia that overtook European governments and citizens regarding their responsibility for these crimes, an amnesia that has only recently begun to dissipate as a result of painful searching across the continent. Through their comparative and transnational approach, the authors illuminate the division between Eastern and Western Europe.

François Duchene, Jean Monnet. The first Statesman of Interdependence, W.W. Norton, New York, 1994, 479 pp., ISBN 0-393-03497-6

An excellent biography of 'the father of European Union'. The author argues that Monnet, although he did not neglect the French national interest, never let himself be used as a tool of French politics. He always stressed the common interests of Germany and France in European cooperation. His close connections with the small political elites in France, Germany and the USA made his efforts to achieve his goals particularly successful.

Kenneth Dyson and Kevin Featherstone, The Road to Maastricht. Negotiating Economic and Monetary Union, Oxford University Press, 1999, 859 pp., ISBN 0-19-828077-7

For the time being the definitive work on the Maastricht treaty.

R.J.W. Evans, The Making of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1550-1770; An Interpretation, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1979, 531 pp. ISBN 0 19 873085 3

This authoritative study is divided into three sections: the General Evolution; The Centre and the Regions; and The Intellectual Foundations. From these titles it is clear that the book is not confined to narrative history of the old school, though nor does it dismiss that approach. It is strong on the social and the intellectual development of the area from the renaissance and the reformation through to the enlightenment. It was widely acclaimed upon publication, and was the joint winner of the Wolfson Literary Award for History in 1979.

R.J.W. Evans, In Defence of History, Granta Books, London, 1997, 307 pp., ISBN 1 86207 068 7

Since the 1960s the discipline of history has undergone unprecedented changes and attempted changes. New ‘isms’ have been introduced and debated with at times bewildering rapidity and in puzzling complexity. A sober and sensible guide for such a minefield has long been needed and is provided in this book. It discusses historiography in the past, addresses issues such as the nature of historical evidence, causation, objectivity, and others. Its most important function, however, is to give a clear and concise description of the various new approaches to the discipline. The author is not shy in giving his own opinion on these new approaches, which adds liveliness to the clarity and breadth of this treatment.

Robert W. Fogel and Geoffrey R. Elton, Which Road to the Past? Two Views of History, Yale University Press, 1983, 136 pp, ISBN 0-300-03011-8 / 0-300-03278-1

Two outstanding historians present different points of view on contemporary debates about ways of understanding the past, especially on the conflict between "traditional" historiography focusing on the narration of events, causes and effects, and the "scientific" or "cliometric" approach, which stresses quantitative methods and the analysis of structures.

Timothy Garton Ash, History of the Present. Essays, Sketches and Despatches from Europe in the 1990s, Allen Lane, The Penguin Press, London, 1999, 441 pp. *

A critical study of the past formative ten years of European history since the Fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the communist regimes in Eastern Europe. Written between journalism, history and literature, the book is a delight to read and will be instructive for anyone interested in the present and future of Europe. It raises the question of the transition to democracy of the new states in the former Eastern Europe, by pointing the dangers to these democracies - elite dissent, popular disillusionment and economic distress, but also discusses the problems of Western Europe with the idea and implementation of a European Union. Garton Ash voices his concern for the borderline cases and for the lack of sufficient moral responsibility on the part of Western Europe.

Ernest Gellner, Nation and Nationalism, Cornell University Press, 1983, 150 pp.*

Gellner explains nationalism not as a resurgence of tribalism or as a result of social disintegration, but describes it as a modernising force. Based on analysis of developments in Central and Eastern Europe, Gellner argues that that a society that aims for economic growth depends on universal literacy. Mass communication, and education in a shared standard idiom, tied to one culture and protected by a state identified with that culture. States which do not conform to this principle of "one state, one culture" are subject to internal strains in the form of nationalist activity.

Sebastian Haffner, Anmerkungen zu Hitler, München: Kindler 1978, 203 pp., ISBN 3-463-001719-3

This is a masterful essay on the history of 20^th century, steeped in outstanding knowledge of primary sources and secondary literature by one of the great German minds.

Sebastian Haffner, Geschichte eines Deutschen – Die Erinnerungen 1914-1933, Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, München, 2000, 239 pp., ISBN 3-421-05409-6 *

The posthumously discovered memoir, written in 1939 with the discerning and penetrating intelligence and elegant style that is characteristic of Haffner's work, provides a unique insight and sharp analysis of the emergence of national socialism and of the life in Interbellum Germany.

Stanley Hoffmann, The European Sisyphus. Essays on Europe, 1964-1994, , West View Press, Boulder, 1995, 326 pp, ISBN 08133-2380-0//0-8133-2381-9 *

Recent essays by one of the shrewdest writers on European political affairs.

Tony Judt, The Burden of Responsibility: Blum, Camus, Aron and the French Twentieth Century, University of Chicago Press, 1998, 184 pp., ISBN 0-2264-1418-3

In his eloquent study of French politics and ideological currents, Judt explores the intellectual and civil courage of three outstanding figures amidst a culture of la trahison des clercs.

Tony Judt, Grand Illusion: An Essay on Europe, Annual New York Review of Books and Hill & Wang Lecture Series No 3, 1996; Penguin (reprint) 1997

In his elegant polemical essay, Judt investigates what is Europe and where is it heading.

Walter Laqueur, Europe in Our Time: A History, 1945-1992, Penquin (reprint), 1993, ISBN 0-1401-3969-9 *

Laqueur's grand synthesis of the post-war period is the eminent historian's highly readable update of his seminal work Europe Since Hitler.

George Lichtheim, Europe in the Twentieth Century, [1972], reprint Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1999, 409 pp., ISBN 0-297-64383-5

'As a guide to cultural and intellectual trends it is still without peer. Conventional in design, but imaginative and opinionated in its arguments, it is a magnificent illustration of the merits of broad-brush history' – 'has the supplementary virtue of ignoring every historiographical and cultural fashion of the past thirty years.' (Tony Judt, NYR Sept 21, 2000)

Philip Longworth, The Making of Eastern Europe, St. Martin’s Press, New York [1992], 1994 , 320 pp. ISBN 0-312-08553-2 / 0-312-12042-7 *

The author, a historian with a journalistic experience, explores in a thought provoking study the cultural, political, economic and social origins of current problems in Eastern Europe, setting its history in the context of European history dating back to the period of Constantine the Great. In a new chapter, Longworth examines the demise of Communism and the development of post-communism.

Mark Mazower, Dark Continent: Europe's Twentieth Century, Penguin Books, London, 1998, 496 pp, ISBN 0-14-028387-0//Knopf, New York, 1999, 487 pp., ISBN 0-679-43909-2

Mazower has provided a highly original and much praised history of the troublesome relationship between European nations and political democracy. The book spans the period from the First World War till the middle of 1990s and includes Russia in the East to Ireland in the West. He examines in detail the inner weaknesses of liberal democracy and its corporatist and collectivist enemies in the course of the century – in the author's description, "a story of narrow squeaks and unexpected twists, not inevitable victories and forward marches".

William O. McCagg Jr., A History of Habsburg Jews, 1670-1918, Indiana University Press, Bloomington & Indianopolis, 1989, 289 p.

The book presents a well researched interpretative survey, tracing the modernisation and assimilation of the Jewish population of the Habsburg empire. The study, a major contribution to the history of Europe, is based on a abundance of Czech, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish and Russian sources.

Alan S. Milward, The European Rescue of the Nation-State. Routledge, London, 2000 (2^nd ed) 466 pp., ISBN 0-415-21628-1 /0-415-21629-X

An original and convincing analysis of European integration since 1950: how the European Community was used by its member states to strengthen their independence.

Edgar Morin, Penser l'Europe, Gallimard, Paris, 1987, 220 pp, ISBN 2-07-070951-5; edition rev. et completée, 1990, 336 pp., ISBN 2-07-032584-9 *

A brilliant essay by the French sociologist on the essential features of the European culture.

Neil Nugent, The Government and Politics of the European Union, Macmillan Press, London, 4^th edition, 567 pp., hardback ISBN 0-333-61444-5, paperback 0-333-61445-3

A "must" in terms of literature on European Union.

Raymond Pearson, The Longman Companion to European Nationalism, 1789-1920, Longmann, London, 1994, 336 pp., ISBN 0-582-07229-8 / 0-582-07228-X

A highly useful work of reference, with dates, maps, and a gazetteer. This is an invaluable database for anyone looking for information on the main period of national and nationalist evolution. The centre of gravity is Germany, Italy and Eastern Europe. In addition there is a brief account of most national groups in Europe.

Léon Poliakov: Le mythe aryen. Essai sur les sources du racisme et des nationalismes, Paris, Calmann-Lévy, 1972, 354 pp. *

A classic, predominantly concerned with the pre-history of antisemitic racism, and as such slanted towards West-Central Europe (though there is a chapter on Russia). But an eye-opener for whoever reads it.

Krysztof Pomian, L’Europe et ses nations, Gallimard, Paris, 1990, 251 pp., ISBN 2-07-071936-7

A brilliant very well written essay analysing twenty centuries of European history as a development of integration and disintegration.

Elizabeth Pond, The Rebirth of Europe, Brookings Institution Press, Washington D.C., 2000, rev. ed. 312 pp. *

This is a valuable book, analysing the European integration of the past fifty years and the crucial role of Germany and France in this process in historical perspective. Along with discussing Poland’s strained relationship with its eastern neighbours, Pond provides an eminently readable account of European economic and monetary union, European Union enlargement, EU relations with America and the French-German-British triad.

Alan Sked, The Decline and Fall of the Habsburg Empire 1815-1918, Longmann, London & New York, 1989, 295 pp., ISBN 0582-02530-3//0582-02531-1

The author himself describes his book as ‘an extended essay’ on the Habsburg Empire’s demise as analysed by modern historians, mostly of British, American, Austrian and Hungarian nationality. Sked rejects the idea of a long process of decline leading inevitably to the empire’s dissolution. With the defeat of the revolution of 1848, the empire rebounded rather than declined and on the brink of the First World War the monarchy was more prosperous than at any time in its modern history, while ‘the nationality problem seemed to be abating’. The disintegration in 1918 was the consequence of the fact that the empire has lost a major war. Sked's provocative book will stimulate future historiographical debates on the monarchy’s disintegration.

Georges Henri Soutou, L'Alliance Incertaine: les rapports politico-stratégiques franco-allemands 1954 - 1996, Editions Fayard, Paris, 1996, 496 p. ISBN 2-213-597-57-X *

The highly acclaimed French expert on the history of international relations portrays the political, economic and strategic aspects of the creation of European Union and the process of European integration. The book provides a comprehensive historical evaluation of development of the French-German relations, which were crucial for the creation of European Union.

Karen E. Smith, The Making of EU Foreign Policy. The Case of Eastern Europe, Macmillan Press, London, 1999, 264 pp., ISBN 0-333-72605-7 *

In this solid and often penetrating study Karen Smith treats the enlargement of the European Union not as is usually done in terms of integration, but in terms of foreign policy-making. The EU’s relations with central and eastern Europe are seen as an attempt to stabilise the common environment. The author deals with the history of EU relations with eastern Europe up to 1989 and describes the main aspects of EU strategy, such as aid, association, integration and conflict prevention.

Hagen Schulze: Staat und Nation in der europäischen Geschichte, C. H. Beck, München, 1994 and 1999, 376 pp. ISBN 3-406-38507-9 *

Already a classic interpretative history of the forming of European states and nations since the Middle Ages, linking their development to the fundamental industrial, political and cultural changes. The eminent German scholar traces the origins and evolution of nationalist ideologies, as well as the implications of both the recent rise of nationalism and the attempts to impose unity in Europe.

André Szász, The Road to European Monetary Union, Macmillan Press, London, 1999, 258 pp. ISBN 0-333-74973-1 *

A lively, lucid and very well written history by an erudite scholar with intimate inside knowledge of the subject matter. The book is indispensable for understanding the history and background of the European Union for specialist and general reader alike.

James D. Tracy, Europe's Reformations 1450-1650. Critical issues in history, Rowman, Littlefield, 1999, 387 pp. ISBN 0-8476-8834-8 / 0-8476-8835-6

Prominent historian James Tracy is the first scholar to effectively synthesise the new understanding of the profound continuities between medieval Catholic Europe and the multi-confessional sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Tracy illustrates how religious conflicts of the Reformation era tilted the balance in church-state relations in favour of the latter.

Pierre Vidal-Naquet, Les assassins de la memoire: ’Un Eichmann de papier’ et autres essais sur le revisionisme, La Decouverte, Paris, 1987, 232 pp. (Assassins of Memory: Essays on the Denial of the Holocaust, with an introduction by Jeffrey Mehlman, Columbia University Press, 1992, 205 pp.)

The eminent French historian discusses different historical approaches to the Holocaust and debates among historians, including the German ’historians debate’. In a number of essays he provides a thorough analysis of the mechanisms of revisionist ideologies, attempts to compare Nazi war crimes with Israel's policy towards Palestinians, and denial of the Holocaust, an analysis that is much needed in general, and in Central and Eastern Europe in particular.