This study challenges the rose-tinted view of the interwar period in Romanian history, which is often judged against the darkness of almost five decades of Communist rule.

Dennis Deletant is Emeritus Professor in the School of Slavonic and East European Studies at University College London, UK. He has authored many books including Romania under Communism (2019), British Clandestine Activities in Romania during the Second World War (2016), and Ceaüescu and the Securitate (2016).

1. Prologue, 2. Romania 1916-1929. Politics, 3. Romania 1918-1940. Economics and Society, 4. Foreign Policy. 1918-1940, 5. The Cession of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, 6. Romania 1930-1940. Politics, 7. The National Legionary State, 1940-1941, 8. Military Dictatorship, 9. Romania at War, 1941, 10. Conclusion