A MILESTONE IN HISTORICAL WRITING
Europe is the result of almost nine years’ labour, fulfilling a commission to put ‘the whole European history between two covers’. Within the three volumes of the Folio edition (covering prehistory to 1270, c. 1250 to 1815, and 1815 to 1991 respectively) the story is presented in an innovative and uniquely readable structure, bringing the places, events and characters vibrantly to life. The main narrative takes the form of 12 chronological chapters. Each concludes with a ‘snapshot’, a short essay describing a symbolic episode in greater depth. The book is famous for also including 300 ‘capsules’: brief, self-contained digressions on an extraordinary variety of topics, from ‘Auschwitz’ and ‘Guerrilla’ to ‘Papyrus’, ‘Hysteria’ and ‘E=MC2’. The Folio edition takes the supporting material from the appendix – some 84 maps and a further 54 charts, lists and infographics – and includes it within the text for easy reference.
‘The book’s true originality lies in its all-inclusive scope and erudition, and literary panache with which the story of Europe is told’
- TIME
Since its first publication, Europe: A History has been reprinted in several editions and translated into 20 languages, including Estonian, Chinese, Japanese and Russian. In the UK, it reached the top of several bestseller lists and was shortlisted for the 1997 NCR Book Award for Non-Fiction.