Winner, Best Book on European Politics, 2005, European Politics and Society Section, American Political Science Association How does a democracy deal with threats to its stability and continued existence when those threats come from political parties that play the democratic game? In Defending Democracy , political scientist Giovanni Capoccia studies key European nations between World Wars I and II which survived such democratic crises. A comprehensive and thoughtful historical analysis of the democracies of interwar Europe, Defending Democracy provides a unique perspective on the many lessons to be learned from their successes and failures. With this exclusively empirical investigative approach, Capoccia develops a methodology for analyzing contemporary democracies—such as Algeria, Turkey, Israel, and others—where similar political conditions are present. Given the rise of terrorism and the persistence of extremism in both established and new democracies today, continued research and dialogue on the defense of democracy are necessary for its preservation. A well-crafted study that sheds additional light on how and why democracy was not altogether submerged in the troubled interwar period. ― History: Review of New Books Defending Democracy is likely to spark fruitful discussion. ― Perspectives on Politics Capoccia's exploration is both informative and provocative . . . would equally benefit students and scholars of democratic government, interwar Europe and the survival and breakdown of democratic regimes. ― Political Studies Review Elegant, comprehensive, and innovative book . . . Well worth a careful read. ― Democratization Giovanni Capoccia develops a rigorously tested argument about elite strategies of responding to extremism by focusing on interwar Europe. ―Daniel Ziblatt, CP-APSA, the Newsletter of the Comparative Politics Organized Section of the American Political Science Association Giovanni Capoccia is a professor of comparative politics at the University of Oxford.