The Rebirth of the West: The Americanization of the Democratic World.

The Rebirth of the West: The Americanization of the Democratic World, by Peter Duignan and Lewis Gann (Blackwell, 733 pp., $40)

IN 1945 Western intellectuals would have regarded as lunacy the notion that Europe would soon be wealthier by far than it had ever been before. They were aghast when the Old World Americanized itself and began to rival America in its prosperity. The tale of Europe's rise from the ashes has been told many times, but never as comprehensively as by Duignan and Gann. The authors show that the rebirth of the West was due little if at all to government programs, but rather to the infusion of American attitudes into a European population which war had cleansed of illusion, liberated from dysfunctional elites, and wedded to common sense. The book traces the immediate effects of World War II on politics, economics, society, and culture. It deals in facts and illustrative anecdotes, showing the psychological changes wrought by American notions of equality and meritocracy, by American optimism, and by such material-examples of Americanization as flush toilets. Similarly it shows how the growth of bureaucracy threatens to choke Europe's rebirth. Written in the crisp, declarative English of Macaulay, this book is essential for understanding the mess that Europe has lately become.