Savage Continent: Europe in the Aftermath of world War II

For a non-fiction work, this book has got to be the most awful horror story that I’ve ever seen. It makes The Road, a horrific post-apocalyptic story by Cormac McCarthy seem tame in comparison. Savage Continent, Europe in the Aftermath of World War II by Keith Lowe is a remarkable work for capturing the turmoil and chaos that the entire continent of Europe faced when the war came to an end. At least 35,000,000 people were killed in the war, and some estimates make that as high as 50,000,000. Governments had collapsed. All forms of infrastructure had been totally destroyed in the course of the fighting. There was too little food and water. Lowe has done a masterful job of making all of this understandable as he reviewed the losses faced by citizens of every country. It is hard to imagine that those who survived the war had the wherewithal to manage their circumstances after the war. Many did not live through these ongoing challenges which included the continuing ethic cleansing that continued to occur in pockets of various countries. The displacement of citizens makes the current refugee movements from the Middle East, Africa and Central America seem minor in comparison. I am a student of history, and this book cogently paints a picture that I had never previously fully appreciated.