Europe: A History

Fabulous book containing an encyclopaedia of information on European history. For those completely unaware of history the text is informative and easily read due to the style of the writing and the format of the discussion. Davies uses extensive appendices and employs text boxes to allow the reader to chose the depth they are happy with. As a result, for those already interested and somewhat knowledgably of the bare facts, the book often introduces a new and deeper discussion then that which we are familiar with. Furthermore, given the range of the discussion - 10,000 years of European history - every reader from every level is assured of learning something new. I thoroughly believe every European should be made to own one!

Brain food worth a Michelin star (7/7 people found this helpful)

I read this on the bus to and from work. School kids see this weighty tome and must assume that i am a schoolmaster as they desist form sitting next to me with their annoying zzzzz things in thier ears. Almost worth the chore of lugging it about for that alone. But it puts it all in context with a bird's eye view centred approximactely over Hungary. Seeing the interlacing of invasions, tribal movements, the Roman Empire and religion all intermeshed.
It looks at all the interests in the growth of power and the power competitions without national hubris and interest - oh that every flag waving nationalist in every part of the World could see some of their treasured myths so analysed.

Excellent within the constraints of the format (18/18 people found this helpful)

An enormous tome which I plodded through a few pages at a time and use to beat off muggers; a survey so surface-level that it leaves you gasping for more; a thoroughly enjoyable read. These statements seem contradictory but all apply to this book. This is as comprehensive as a single-volume history of Europe can manage to be, and yet it still but skims the surface of the story of this magnificently diverse and dynamic continent in which we are blessed to live.

Davies is a Poland specialist and he uses his knowledge of the country's intricacies to illuminate the experience of the whole continent; as indeed he does also with his native Oxfordshire. To my mind, this is a strength, rather than a weakness as long as one remembers that the specific often serves as an exemplar for the general. The contributions of small, historically peripheral and often forgotten parts of Europe are woven seamlessly into the weft of Davies' narrative - Ireland, Sicily, Latvia, Ukraine. Nor is the story of ideas, of economies and of science is not lost among the dreary procession of wars and dynasties.

As for criticism, while any work of this sweep is going to have difficulty separating people and concepts in the minds of its readers, I find the procession of minor royal figures and complex webs of intermarriage in medieval times particularly difficult. Perhaps Davies could have set out more clearly who ruled where and when, and what the relationships between them.

Also, Davies finishes weakly after a strong book. Speculation is, naturally, mere speculation but Davies predictions for the future read too much like a senior common room conversation after a few glasses of wine. They also seem peculiarly anti-Russian and have dated quite rapidly.

I'm not quite sure if the capsule idea works. In 1992 it must have seemed very cutting edge, a harbinger of an internet still unknown to the general public. Now they seem a bit dated, and while they contain much of interest they sometimes distract from the flow of the narrative.

Still, one of the telling tests of a work such as this is how it wears. After more than a decade, this still reads very well.

Short but sweet! (10/10 people found this helpful)

This book is quite short considering the millenia it covers. I bought this for my boyfriend as a catch-up because I am a history student and he's not but wants to know a bit more. Obviously it is not as in-depth as books covering singular periods but it's a really good general overview and great to just read out of interest rather than as a study guide per se. Highly recommended due to the amount it covers and in an impressingly comprehensive way.

I now want to know more about everything (22/23 people found this helpful)

This was deeply educational in a way no other history book has been for me. It got me interested in each stage and theatre of European history. I am now hungry for more on religion in the Balkans under the Ottomans, the differing legal systems of pre-revolutionary France, trade and diplomacy in the Hanseatic league and countless other subjects that I previously knew nothing of or thought of as deadly boring and unimportant. The point about Poland being over represented may be true but it does not take away from this brilliant book. I will definately read more from this man.

Norman Davies

Reader Reviews:

Fabulous book containing an encyclopaedia of information (8/8 people found this helpful)

Brain food worth a Michelin star (7/7 people found this helpful)

Excellent within the constraints of the format (18/18 people found this helpful)

Short but sweet! (10/10 people found this helpful)

I now want to know more about everything (22/23 people found this helpful)

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