The years following World War II witnessed perhaps the greatest success story in Western history—the economic and political recovery of European democracies that had been devastated by the cataclysmic war. Peter Duignan and L.H. Gann convincingly demonstrate that the deep involvement of the United States was a key factor in this success. The Rebirth of the West is a broad, narrative analysis of every important aspect of Western society during this formative period—political, economic, social, cultural, and scientific. In addition to providing an interpretive synthesis of the vast literature on the subject, the authors make an important and original contribution to both the historical record of this period and current debates over the future of Europe.