“This brilliant book is a masterpiece of contemporary history and far and away the best thing that’s been published about the huge historical turn that began in Europe in 1989. It instantly becomes the go-to book for understanding the period, totally supplanting previous accounts. Philipp Ther makes the events of 1989, and what followed, not simply a history of Eastern Europe, but a history of Europe as a whole, with both east and west entranced, and partly blinded, by the neoliberal imperative.”—Larry Wolff, New York University“Bound to become the standard work for Europe’s transformation since 1989.”—Frank Bösch, H-Net“[Ther’s] central thesis demands serious consideration. He argues that a ‘neoliberal train,’ put on track in Margaret Thatcher’s Britain and Ronald Reagan’s United States, began ‘to cross Europe in 1989.’ He says he uses neoliberalism ‘as a neutral, analytical term,’ and rightly distinguishes between its intellectual history and the specific social and political circumstances of its implementation.”—Timothy Garton Ash, New York Review of Books “Recommended, not just the usual and interesting to see ‘the West’ treated as the periphery.”—Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution “Eye-opening.”—Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung“Groundbreaking . . . and beautifully written.”—Die Zeit “Ther presents sweeping macroeconomic evidence with clarity and precision.”—Paweł Marczewski, Metropole “A compelling history.” —Bookseller Buyer’s Guide