Saving Europe

Reviews / Votes

Saving Europe offers a fresh perspective on the critical decade following the First World War. It explores the intersection of American humanitarian aid and the changed relationship between the United States and Europe. Tammy M. Proctor skillfully examines the complexities of American identity, relief efforts, and the reconstruction of war-torn nations, providing a nuanced understanding of a transformative period in history that has new relevance given the crisis in Ukraine today. * Michael S. Neiberg, author of When France Fell: The Vichy Crisis and the Fate of the Anglo-American Alliance * In her brilliant and insightful book, Tammy M. Proctor explains why Americans endeavoured to save Europe after the First World War. She shines a light on the motivations, misperceptions, and racism that were all part of the American moral responsibility to bring democracy and technocracy to the globe, while drawing much needed attention to the ambiguities and stark contradictions of humanitarianism. * Davide Rodogno, International History and Politics Professor, Geneva Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies * In this innovative social and cultural history, Tammy M. Proctor offers fresh perspectives on American humanitarianism and U.S.-European relations during the First World War era. Her book provides an intimate portrayal of American aid efforts across the European continent, while also tracing the lasting legacies of those ventures. As they relieved and rebuilt Europe, Proctor shows, Americans reforged their own identities, redefining the United States place on the global stage. * Julia F. Irwin, author of Catastrophic Diplomacy: US Foreign Disaster Assistance in the American Century * In this well-researched study, the leading Great War historian Tammy Proctor uncovers how relatively modest efforts to feed hungry Belgians ballooned into a decade-long flurry of American relief organizing across the varied political landscapes of war-torn Europe. Saving Europe not only brings to life the on-the-ground negotiations of donors, relief volunteers, needy mothers, and other ordinary people trying to make sense of World War Is fallout; it makes a convincing case for how those encounters left important legacies for future US humanitarian aid around the globe. * Brooke L. Blower, author of Americans in a World at War: Intimate Histories from the Crash of Pan Ams Yankee Clipper *