2008, Volume 14, N°2 - Centre d'études et de recherches ...

Book reviews – Comptes rendus – Buchbesprechungen 175
come to make use of newly declassified sources and to propose a more objective
appraisal of the end of the Cold War. In this connection, the reader of this book will
certainly be satisfied: the use of primary sources is relevant and consistent with the
proposed analysis and there is no room for a rhetorical interpretation of the events
or propaganda.
However, the most intriguing and fascinating contribution of this book is the
effort to “reinstate Europe at the centre of the attention of historians looking at the
end of the Cold War”, as the editors vigorously declare. For too long a period
literature has looked at this topic through the prism of the superpowers’ policy and
relationship. Even the German question has mostly been analysed within the
framework of the bipolar game.
This book offers a rich investigation of the role of Europe in ending the Cold
War. The topic is considered in a broad sense: the many authors involved in this
effort analyse both actors and processes in the old continent. As for actors, the
scope of the book extends from key West European countries (about which new
seminal interpretations are brought that deny reiterated stereotypes) to minor
countries whose policy have so far been overlooked and to East European countries
that played an important role in the peaceful ending of the Cold War. Large room is
given to the role and ideas of key personalities, such as Gorbachev, Kohl, Mitterand
and Thatcher. The book also investigates the environment in which the
above-mentioned actors played, and particularly the dynamics and challenges of
the main European processes: the integration of Western Europe, the pan-European
dialogue (“the Helsinki effect”) and the evolution and reform process in the Soviet
Union and Eastern Europe.
All these themes are coherently linked together and the book offers a clear and
multi-faceted picture of European events. This is also due to the structure of the
book, which is both thematically and chronologically arranged in such a way that
the reader can enjoy in-depth analyses without loosing the overall framework.
Generally speaking, the various contributions are relevant as for the use of
sources and revealing as for contents. Most papers present interesting new
interpretations. Some perplexities might arise as for the use of counterfactual
approach or arguments in at least two papers (Lévesque and Hutchings).
In conclusion, by focusing on Europe – in its various dimensions – as an active
and determinant subject of international relations, this book pioneers a new phase
of historiography that might on the one hand fill the existing gap in the
acknowledgement of the Cold War and its end, and on the other hand contribute to
a more complete understanding of the history of the old continent.
Dr. Angela Romano
University of Florence