In 1914, Europe was the most powerful continent in the world. Britain and France between them controlled vast colonial empires totalling more than a third of the world's surface, and European political and cultural dominance seemed all but assured to continue indefinitely. Instead the "short" twentieth century brought about the two most destructive wars in human history, the deaths of millions of people, and the complete transformation of global geopolitics in favor of the United States and the Soviet Union. Europe today, while prosperous, has long since relinquished its leading position in global affairs. Using an array of primary and secondary sources, this course will chart the political, economic and cultural upheavals of Europe's twentieth century. We will not only examine Europe's relative decline in importance, but will analyze the ways in which European politics, societies and cultures continue to shape global affairs in the twenty-first century.
| Sofia Petrovna by Chukovskaya | Northwestern UP. ISBN: 978-0810111509 | Required |
| Ordinary Men by Browning, Christopher | Harper Perennial. ISBN: 978-0060995065 | Required |
| Europe in the Contemporary World by Smith, Bonnie | Bedford/St Martin's. ISBN: 978-0312406998 | Required |
| Sources of European History Since 1900, 2nd ed. by Perry, Marvin | Wadworth Publishing. ISBN: 978-1424069675 | Required |
| Tea in the Harem by Charef, Mehdi | Serpent's Tail. ISBN: 978-1852421519 | Required |
| The Magic Lantern by Ash, Timothy Garton | Vintage. ISBN: 978-0679740483 | Required |
| The Power of the Powerless by Havel, Vaclav | M. E. Sharpe. ISBN: 978-0873327619 | Required |
| Under Fire by Barbusse, Henri | Penguin. ISBN: 978-0143039044 | Required |
