The course will focus on France, the UK, Germany and Eastern Europe. Four particular themes will be explored: 1. European politics: East/West defiance. Communism and Capitalism in Europe. 2. Cultural history: East/West arts, literature, architecture and alternative cultures. 3. Social developments: Paternalistic society of the 1950s, May 1968, social and sexual revolution, and emergence of the consumer society in the West. Official and counter-culture/resistance in the East. 4. Economics: The socialist economy in the East and 'Les Trente Glorieuses' (the 30 years of post-war boom) in the West up to the oil crisis (1970s).