Behind this general title is a book of outstanding clarity and purpose. The author has correctly identified the fact that the history of European socialist parties after the Second World War has been woefully neglected. The book challenges a number of misconceptions which have become firmly embedded in historical writings. The author has analyzed the history of Polish, Czechoslovak, Italian, and French socialist parties during the period 1945–48. His aim was first to reconstruct the varied and complex debates that took place in each of the parties. But his objective is more ambitious. It is his assertion that most, if not all historians of this period, have incorrectly focused on the communist parties, presenting them as the driving force behind the historic debates on governance, democracy, representation, legalism, and state control of the economy. In those debates, the socialists have been seen as the moderating influence, whereas to the communists was assigned the role of revolutionary and antidemocratic infiltrators of the working class. De Graaf challenges this simplistic interpretation of what happened during the immediate post war period.

In the course of eight chapters, each of which addresses problems that confronted all European states, he equally analyzes four European socialist movements. His interesting and well-reasoned choice of two parties from eastern Europe and two from western Europe allowed him to explain how the divisions within the European socialist movement did not reflect the paradigm of immature versus mature democracies, but were determined by the history of each of the socialist parties. In most cases he found that the Polish and Italian parties evolved towards a more radical and anti-parliamentarian model, whereas the Czechoslovak and French parties embraced legalism and collaboration with centrist parties. It is his assertion that the debates on post-war reconstruction and on the role of the socialists parties in the first post-war governments were not determined solely by war experiences. Instead, he stresses that pre-war debates influenced the way socialist parties addressed post-war problems. War-time experiences added to the way the parties acted after the war, but it was not the only factor determining their policies. An important point made by De Graaf is that party policies were not made only by the leadership. Grassroots membership had a voice which was heard in factories and at congresses.

De Graaf is careful not to be drawn into the debate on the relations between socialists and communists, because this is not the main focus on his book. Nevertheless, he repeatedly points to the fact that many of the policies that have been usually associated with communist parties (control over production, disregard for parliamentary procedures, and conflicts with center and liberal parties, were frequently part of the socialist parties’ program). This was particularly the case in Poland and in Italy where political conflicts during the interwar period had been confrontational.

The author's analysis of socialist parties is predicated on the assumption that there was always ideological unity across Europe—even if not necessarily close—but unity nevertheless. The book therefore ends with a chapter on the split between the eastern and western socialist parties. Two facts played a divisive role in this process; the Prague coup in 1948 and the Marshall Plan. Led by the British Labour Party the West European Socialist parties condemned the coup and that in turn incurred the hostility of the Czechoslovak and Polish Socialists. But Marshall Plan had, likewise divided the European Socialists, with the French in particular, determined to espouse it whereas many of the East European and the Italian parties felt deep disquiet about its implications. Both events led to a final split along the Iron Curtain lines.

The book is an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the Cold War and the history of socialism. De Graaf has made it abundantly clear that this is not just a minor chapter in the history of the communist takeover of eastern Europe, but on its own account, an important stage in the long history of European Socialism. Da Graaf's research is impressive. He is thorough in supporting his assertions with extensive archival research. This is in every respect a book of quality.