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Title: Europe : A History by Norman Davies ISBN: 0-06-097468-0 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 February, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.09 (77 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: An enlightenig look at European history on the grand scale.
Comment: The mere size of the book is daunting. But if you think you know European history, you are in for a great surprise. Dr.
Davies backgound scholarship in Russian, Polish and Slovonic history is used to add a dimension to Euorpean history rarely covered by traditional historians. While reviewers of the book found Dr. Davies asides disconcerting, the layman such as myself, found them intriguing. The only
distraction in this massive opus is the overwhelming number of individuals that are mentioned with their birth and death dates. Dr. Davies technique of focusing on a single day in
each chapter as illuminating of the period he just covered,
his prose and insight are spellbinding.
If you want the Grand Tour of Europe this book is an absorbing tour de force. One comes away with a deeper understanding of European history and how it's past is
reflected in today's Europe. When you can read the grand sweep of history of Russia for example, Communism's failure
is a modern replay of Russia's roller coaster past.
Here is a facinating book to read and ponder. If you believe that we relive history by not learning from the past, Europe
A History will strongly reinforce this belief.
Rating: 5
Summary: An invaluable desk reference as well as fascinating history
Comment: This book has proven to be one of my most valuable desk references. I wished I had bought the hardback, given the wear and tear on it over the 6 years I have had it. Davies has done a marvelous job of condensing a tremendous amount of history into one volume. He approaches it in a three-fold way. He provides a richly flowing narrative that covers the story of Europe much like an epic novel. He intersperses the narrative with an extensive series of "Capsules" that take in special events and interesting asides in the development of a European identity. Lastly, he provides a massive set of appendices that cover everything from royal lines to WWII death tolls.
The narrative is divided into a set of 12 chapters that cover broad periods of time starting with the environment and prehistory of the contintnet to the Cold War era. Davies has a tremendous command of the events which shaped Europe. His strength lies in his understanding of Eastern Europe, and in particular Poland, expanding the breadth of the continent beyond its usual eastern borders. In fact one might say that Davies has made the case to rethink European history along Eastern European lines, which is the logical extension of his earlier two-volume history of Poland. He takes in Russian history, with special attention to its Slavic roots. He deals with the inevitable conflicts that arose and provides good summaries of the World Wars. He deals with the restoration of Western Europe and the demise of Eastern Europe following WWII along ideological lines, noting how one rose at the expense of the other. He chooses to end his narrative with the collapse of the Soviet Union, providing a short epilogue on his thoughts concerning the new allignments in Europe.
The numerous capsules are a very interesting approach in dealing with cultural aspects of Europe. He offers an astonishing array of anecdotes in these capsules such as the origins of Dr. Faustas to the transcendental nature of the famous war song, Lili Marlene. Although he covers much of the cultural history of Europe in his narrative, it is in these capsules that one finds many fascinating aspects of this cultural history and how it has evolved over the century.
The appendices cover a lot of ground, illustruating some of the iconography of Europe, providing extensive lists of everything from the Popes and Patriarchs of Rome to a selection of the works and authors banned by the Papal Index. He provides numerous maps and charts to help guide you through the rough and tumble history of Europe, and provides accurate death tolls of the World Wars. He also provides extensive book notes as well as an excellent index to help guide you in subsequent searches.
This is probably the best one-volume history of Europe available today and one that will serve you will in gaining an understanding of this rich and varied continent. His rich prose makes it a pleasure to read and his excellent index allows for quick searches to look up key events. A book that will find its place with all your other desk references or by your armchair for a long and enjoyable read.
Rating: 2
Summary: Slavophobic
Comment: I think that the author showed reluctancy to accept the fact that Poles are not the victims of Russians. The clash started long time ago, and it continued into modern times. He writes about the oprression of Ortodox chuch on Uniates but doesent mention the fact that Vatican was and still is much more agressive and much more opressive than the Russian Ortodox church. He also writes about the fact that state should create nation and not the other way around, most of examples are confirming that he is right, but in balkan Peninsula we have situation where nation created the state, and it is the only way for state to fuinction i that part of the world.
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Title: The Isles: A History by Norman Davies ISBN: 0195148312 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 01 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Heart of Europe: The Past in Poland's Present by Norman Davies ISBN: 0192801260 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 01 July, 2001 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: The Penguin History of Europe by J. M. Roberts, J.M. Roberts ISBN: 0140265619 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 December, 1998 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: A History of Europe by J. M. Roberts ISBN: 0713992042 Publisher: Viking Books Pub. Date: 01 December, 1997 List Price(USD): $34.95 |
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Title: The New History of the World by J. M. Roberts ISBN: 0195219279 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 01 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $40.00 |
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