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seagul's review against another edition
4.0
An epic read that encapsulated the dramatic "century of peace" in Europe, this book by Evans once again proves his mastery of European history. Taking the reader all across Europe, from the banks of the Danube to the Low Countries and beyond, Evans weaves together a transnational history of Europe at its epoch, and masterfully educates the reader on the various happenings on the continent, and how they all tied together to launch Europe into the global power from 1815-1914. He also explores how this power began to diminish, cumulating with the Great War, ending with prophetic quote from from Edward Grey, British Foreign Secretary, "the lamps are going out over Europe, we shall not see them lit again on our lifetime".
For readers interested in transnational history of Europe in its century of peace, I highly recommend this book. Exploring roles of nationalism, liberalism, democratization, and much more, this book is a great read.
For readers interested in transnational history of Europe in its century of peace, I highly recommend this book. Exploring roles of nationalism, liberalism, democratization, and much more, this book is a great read.
tomstbr's review
4.0
A little liberal for my liking but a great overview of one of the most important and uprooting centuries of all time. Darts all over the place as it is mostly thematically written (wars, inventions, colonialism, etc) and finishes with the causes of World War 1. Very informative and well written.
latterature's review against another edition
4.0
Covers an amazing variety of political, social and cultural changes over a hundred-year period without being dense or cumbersome.
endlessmidnight's review
challenging
informative
tense
slow-paced
5.0
An excellent, informative overview of the Victorian era, and the years 1815-1914, comprehensive, with a lot about the ideas, the developments, the revolutions and the political developments, and an excellent intro in to European politics of that area, in a clear, concise narrative style.
bulwerka's review
3.0
Great historiography if the period from the Fall of Napoleon to the start of the First World War
vanerpje's review
5.0
I picked this up to fill a gap in history between the 1700s and the 1900s and this book did a great job of doing that (albeit, with a completely Euro-centric perspective).
mark_lm's review against another edition
4.0
A great history of Europe from 1815 to 1914 by Sir Richard Evans, the author of the excellent trilogy about the Third Reich. It’s taken me a month to read this and summarizing it in any meaningful way for you is difficult, but...
The book is organized into sections based on concepts or historical themes including the end of the Napoleonic wars; the end of Serfdom; the Industrial and textile revolutions; the revolutions of 1830, 1848, etc.; the gradual advance of liberal democracy with the coming of modification of work hours, the reduction of work hazards and the expansion of the electorate; the development of trade unions, Socialism, and Communism; the independence of Belgium, the unification of Italy and Germany; the Crimean, Franco-Prussian, Russo-Japanese, Boer and Balkan wars; the coming of Imperialism; the development of the working and middle classes; plus the exploration of the Earth and the advancement of science. Whew.
In addition to considerable numerical and historical detail, with the discussion of what seemed to be every key person, the book is peppered with anecdotes, quotations and mention of important works of art and literature. For example:
At the time of the appointment of Talleyrand as the French foreign minister and Joseph Fouché as the minister of police, Chateaubriand commented that this was “vice leaning on the arm of crime”, and
when the Greek politician Ioannis Kapodistrias (1776 - 1831) was initially unsuccessful in the introduction of the potato to Greece, he had the potatoes surrounded by armed guards at the waterfront in Nafplio. The local inhabitants were then convinced of their value and stole them all.
There is a lot of fascinating stuff here, but I was especially enlightened by the author’s discussion of serfs; how they functioned, their importance in different countries, and the consequence of the abolition of serfdom. He commented that there were slaves in Europe, notably Gypsies in Romania. I also especially liked his final summary of the details of the coming of the first World War in the final chapter. The book is clearly an extraordinary accomplishment.
The book is organized into sections based on concepts or historical themes including the end of the Napoleonic wars; the end of Serfdom; the Industrial and textile revolutions; the revolutions of 1830, 1848, etc.; the gradual advance of liberal democracy with the coming of modification of work hours, the reduction of work hazards and the expansion of the electorate; the development of trade unions, Socialism, and Communism; the independence of Belgium, the unification of Italy and Germany; the Crimean, Franco-Prussian, Russo-Japanese, Boer and Balkan wars; the coming of Imperialism; the development of the working and middle classes; plus the exploration of the Earth and the advancement of science. Whew.
In addition to considerable numerical and historical detail, with the discussion of what seemed to be every key person, the book is peppered with anecdotes, quotations and mention of important works of art and literature. For example:
At the time of the appointment of Talleyrand as the French foreign minister and Joseph Fouché as the minister of police, Chateaubriand commented that this was “vice leaning on the arm of crime”, and
when the Greek politician Ioannis Kapodistrias (1776 - 1831) was initially unsuccessful in the introduction of the potato to Greece, he had the potatoes surrounded by armed guards at the waterfront in Nafplio. The local inhabitants were then convinced of their value and stole them all.
There is a lot of fascinating stuff here, but I was especially enlightened by the author’s discussion of serfs; how they functioned, their importance in different countries, and the consequence of the abolition of serfdom. He commented that there were slaves in Europe, notably Gypsies in Romania. I also especially liked his final summary of the details of the coming of the first World War in the final chapter. The book is clearly an extraordinary accomplishment.