Europe: A History

Biased and boring, should be tittled the great history of poland and some countries in periphery

A succinct but detailed overview. (0/0 people found this helpful)

I can't thank Norman Davies enough for writing this book! It became my first point of reference for most subjects I studied as a first year undergraduate student of European History. He successfully breaks up this vast topic into more manageable time periods and covers each one succinctly but thoroughly. Couldn't have survived my first year without it! I'd recommend it both to students of European History but also to those just interested in the topic because he writes clearly and explains himself well so anyone can gain a decent understanding of this tumultuous and fascinating subject.

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

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 (20/20 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.

Norman Davies

Reader Reviews:

Europe around Poland (0/1 people found this helpful)

A succinct but detailed overview. (0/0 people found this helpful)

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 (20/20 people found this helpful)

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