Book about the reconstruction of Europe post-WWII

by vigaman22

I'm interested in how Europe was politically and economically reconstructed after WWII.

-How countries liberated from German occupation established a new government, police force, and military (or how much of these remained intact during occupation?). Who was running the power plants and railroads in 1943 vs 1947?

-How Europe was fed in those first years of economic and infrastructural devastation.

-How does a French factory making German tanks with forced labor go back to making toasters?

-How the refugee crisis war dealt with.

-How did a country like the Netherlands reestablish control over its colonies?

-How we went from the morgenthau plan and reparations to assisting the rebuilding of the German economy. Similarly, how denazification was undertaken.

-Ideally also addressing similar questions about the Soviet Bloc.

Overall I want something that's looking at these issues from more of a domestic and continental perspective rather than seeing these through just a cold war lens that is often so dominant. Obviously the cold war is critical to the story but I'm looking for a little more nuts and bolts. The core time period I'm interested in would be something like 1944-1960.

Bodark43

You're actually asking for enough details for several books, here. However, to start with I would recommend Tony Judt's Postwar: A History of Europe since 1945. It's over on the Book List. It's the last real big history book he was able to write ( he would succumb to ALS) and not only covers the rebuilding, resettling of refugees, and growing tensions leading into the Cold War but also the origins of what would become the typical European welfare state. It's also very well written. If you wanted to go into more details browsing from the book's bibliography would be a good way to begin.