The Great Depression in Europe, 1929-1939

'Patricia Clavin has produced a most stimulating and highly useful text which deserves to be used widely in undergraduate courses.' - Andrew Marrison, Business History '...an excellent, wide-ranging summary of scholarship on the politics, diplomacy, and economics of interwar Europe.' - History: Reviews of New Books '...a valuable contribution to the library of anyone who is interested in this fascinating period of history.' - Pete Ferderer, Macalester College, Minnesota 'Patricia Clavin has produced a superb text - at once authoritative and accessible.' - Conan Fischer, University of Strathclyde 'An excellent book which is extremely well written in a clear and concise manner and which will undoubtedly encourage the development of a deep interest in the area.' - Raymond Pate, Southport College 'Fills a gaping hole in the literature, and will be useful on several of my courses.' - Patrick Finney, University of Wales, Lampeter

The book gives equal weight to the political and historical context of economic policy - political attitudes and expectations, institutional opinions, strategic considerations, the legacies and lessons of history - to explain why European countries chose nationalist routes to recovery.This is a comparative study of the origins, course and consequences of the deepest economic crisis in modern European history. Written with the non-economist in mind, the book explores recent research into the causes of the depression, notably the gold standard system, which helped to turn recession into profound depression and to transmit its effects around the world. The book gives equal weight to the political and historical context of economic policy - political attitudes and expectations, institutional opinions, strategic considerations, the legacies and lessons of history - to explain why European countries chose nationalist routes to recovery. International co-operation offered the best chance for recovery, and the book also contains a lively account of why this failed, and its consequences for international relations in the 1930s.