Europe: A History

Written by Norman Davies

Narrated by Derek Perkins

Here is a masterpiece of historical narrative that stretches from the Ice Age to the Atomic Age, as it tells the story of Europe, East and West.

Norman Davies captures it all-the rise and fall of Rome, the sweeping invasions of Alaric and Atilla, the Norman Conquests, the Papal struggles for power, the Renaissance and the Reformation, the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, Europe's rise to become the powerhouse of the world, and its eclipse in our own century, following two devastating World Wars.

This is the first major history of Europe to give equal weight to both East and West, and it shines light on fascinating minority communities, from heretics and lepers to Gypsies, Jews, and Muslims. It also takes an innovative approach, combining traditional narrative with unique features that help bring history alive: 299 time capsules scattered through the narrative capture telling aspects of an era, and twelve snapshots offer a panoramic look at all of Europe at a particular moment in history. All told, Davies's Europe represents one of the most important and illuminating histories to be published in recent years.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: May 14, 2019
• ISBN: 9781977375186

Norman Davies

Norman Davies FBA, FRHistS is a British-Polish historian noted for his publications on the history of Europe, Poland and the United Kingdom. He is widely regarded as one of the preeminent historians of Central and Eastern European history. He is the UNESCO Professor at the Jagiellonian University, Professor Emeritus at the University College London, a Visiting Professor at the College of Europe and an Honorary Fellow at St. Antony's College, Oxford.

Reviews for Europe

[paul_s-289480 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

At first I thought this would be very slow and detailed given the book's length but then very quickly realised this will have to fly through history at lightspeed - before reading this book I never realised how rich it is because most books only try to cover one aspect of it. I gorged myself on this book for two days and it was an amazing ride through the glorious and terrifying history of Europe.

The book assumes that you haven't been sleeping through history class at school so will not spoonfeed you basic history.

[joe73-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is one monster of a volume. It is well done, researched and put together. But it has some serious problems with the way it is laid out. The pages of side notes are informative but all together they only slow the pace of the book down. Constantly having to go back and forth and read them. You don't want to pass them up because you do not know what you might miss. So when you attack this volume you have to make a precise battle plan on how you are going to achieve the goal of finishing it. I would give it 4 stars but 3 will have to do because of the back and forth.

[jhemlock-1711 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is one monster of a volume. It is well done, researched and put together. But it has some serious problems with the way it is laid out. The pages of side notes are informative but all together they only slow the pace of the book down. Constantly having to go back and forth and read them. You don't want to pass them up because you do not know what you might miss. So when you attack this volume you have to make a precise battle plan on how you are going to achieve the goal of finishing it. I would give it 4 stars but 3 will have to do because of the back and forth.

[debbiemccauley-2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a comprehensive book on the history of Europe from prehistory through the present. The book contains extensive notes, maps and appendices which service to bring credibility to the subject. Author Norman Davies tries to counteract the bias of ‘Eurocentrism’ and ‘Western civilization’ throughout his book. Very useful for anyone studying or interested in this topic.

[johnnyryan_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent, beautifully written overview. Davies delivers a broad, sweeping history. One caveat: it passes quickly over detail, occasionally vaguely. Overall this is a masterpiece.

[bookomaniac-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Extraordinary history of Europe. Brilliant, especially for its attention to eastern Europe, although written just after the opening of the Iron Curtain. The "lemma's" that accompany the chronological story are perfect complementaries, that give depth to the narrative.

[andreg_402685 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An informative overview of the history of Europe as a whole. I really enojoyed the little boxes throughout the book highlighting little-known facts or anecdotes about the history of Europe. My favourite part was the essay at the start of the book, in which Davies presents his definition of European history. I didn't find this book to be a great sholarly work, yet I found it entertaining, informative and thought-provoking.

[robertday_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This magisterial work takes a completely continental view of European history. It sets the story of migrations and the rise and fall of empires in a geographical context, starting with the premise that Europe is distinguished by the movement of populations in prehistoric times from East to West. It therefore gives proper space to accounts of peoples., empires and movements beyond what we used to call 'the Iron Curtain'. To emphasise this point, many of the maps are drawn with North at the right-hand side, not the top. Davies constantly reminds us that he is trying very hard to avoid "Western-centricism".The book has many 'capsules', self-contained essays on topics not central to the main thrust of the historical narrative but illuminating nonetheless. These can be accessed throughout the book by a sort of typographical hyperlink and they do not necessarily correspond to the chronological sequence of the text where they first appear.The overall effect is one of comprehensiveness. This book is essential reading for anyone who thinks that there is something special about 'Britishness' (or any other sort of '-ness', for that matter). It shows that one way or another, we in the UK are all European, no matter what our origin.

[avril_5 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is really a refernce book rather than one to read from page 1 to page 1136, but it is irresistible to dip into, and always gives one the answer one is looking for. The text is enlivened by the insertion of "Capsules", gobbets of popular interest. The graffiti in the brothels of Pompeii are particularly noteworthy.

[eltomaso · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Can you really put all of European history under one cover? Well, read this book and then decide! The author did a splendid job, whether this is just a primer or all you will ever want to know.

[jbreedlove_6 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The author takes a fascinating subjects and cuts corners with "capsules" and "snapshots". They took up space and made the book easier to write.