This volume centres on the collaborative work of Ivan Berend and György Ránki, begun in Hungary in the 1950s and continuing till Ranki's death in 1988, but includes papers by each individually as well as those written jointly. The subject is the social and economic history of Central and Eastern Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries, with a particular focus upon Hungary. The first part looks at the troubled German-Hungarian relations during Hitler's rule; although focusing on Hungary, it also provides an understanding of the economic ties between Germany and Central and Eastern Europe during the turbulent war years. The economic and political problems of the region in the interwar years are dealt with in the second part. Two of the four studies in the final section present the efforts and strict limitations of reforms in state socialist Hungary. The other two analyze the post-communist economic transformation of Central and Eastern Europe during the 1990s in a broad international context.