European Socialism covers the transformative development of socialism in Europe, exploring the intellectual, social, and political evolution of the movement from its inception through to the early 20th century. The narrative seeks to provide a comparative analysis of the movements in major continental countries, while acknowledging that an all-encompassing history of socialism in Europe would be an impossible task. The author notes the difficulty of incorporating all the various movements across the continent, especially given the extensive ideological interconnections and the influence of each country's socialist experience on others. For practical reasons, the book focuses on the more influential European nations, with a particular emphasis on Germany, France, Russia, and several smaller nations such as Belgium and Denmark, but excludes Great Britain due to the extensive existing literature on British socialism.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1959.