Customer Reviews

A History of Modern Europe: From the Renaissance to the Present

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Modern historiography has a tendency to be highly abstract. Events themselves take a back seat to trends; themes replace actual motivations of living, breathing people. It is seen as more scientific (whether reasonably or not) to view movements of peoples and states in statistical terms. The oldest form of history -- the narrative -- has fallen into some amount of discredit.

There are some of us who deplore this development, since we see in the story itself -- the whole snarled skein of the events, the characters, the people -- a kind of richness and complexity that cannot ever be present in any pure distillation of that story along abstract lines. Accordingly I welcome Prof. Merriman's new modern European history. It is suitably analytical where it needs to be, but unlike some other classic standards (Palmer and Colton, for example, comes to mind), it tends not to depart from the story of the events or to fragment that story excessively. For long stretches he is content to let that story tell itself. This puts it in a rare cluster of modern historical textbooks that presents at least the ingredient of narrative while still being written with a mature and discerning reader in mind.

Don't pay any attention to the bored high school brats and their negative "reviews." Anything more complicated than the menu at McDonald's would put them to sleep.

This is a lucid, engaging text that transcends the bounds of conventional historiography to borrow from literature and art to adorn a lively narrative. Merriman is a professor of history at Yale who can explain complex developments (such as the French Revolution and the rise of revolutionary nationalism) in accessible terms. It is by far the best introductory textbook on Europe sicne 1300.

I bought this book for my second semester freshman year as a required textbook. My professor used it as a background to the primary sources we were reading, and it does indeed give excellent background reading into the period.

However, I discovered that it comes in handy more than that. Now a junior studying abroad, I dragged this rather heavy volume along with me to Europe, and use it as a basis for further research into the field. Although it isn't going to get indepth like some books can do with a specific focus (one example: it's not going to tell you the population density and makeup of 18th century Bologne) it does give a broad scope of history, and is therefore a perfect place from which to jump into deeper topics.

I used this book recently for a High School AP European History course. It was extremely easy to read and flowed easily from one topic to another. It was very helpful in determining the broad socioeconomic and political elements accross the whole of Europe at specific points in history. (It breaks each country's history into little bricks of information that are clear, concise sections.)
Although the book was determined to be too expensive and detailed for the course (because it is High School AP for a college level European History survey course), I continue to depend on it when studying world history in college. It is definately worth the money if only to keep around for those rainy days when you need some general background knowledge of Germany or Sweden during the 1450s.

I picked up this volume many years ago and have read it in fits and starts, one chunk at a time. At about 1500 pages, it's a bit much to consume all at once. Nevertheless, as a lover of history and a person who is committed to self-educating away some of the gaps in my prior education, I find this to be a highly valuable addition to my library.

Merriman's approach is not straight chronology, but rather it is theme-based. For example, one segment may focus on the Renaissance in the Italian city-states, another on the Reformation, and another may discuss the wars of religion between Catholics and Protestants, with each segment loosely encompassing the relevant historical periods for those themes. There tends to be some overlap between various segments, along with allusions to topics that are covered in detail in other chapters. Although this seems occasionally disjointed, the overall presentation style allows for a more coherent understanding of each major historical theme.

In general I found this volume to be easy to read, with a reasonably smooth narrative flow. Although this is, in essence, a college textbook, it lacks the dry, didactic flavor usually associated with textbooks. The first edition covers roughly 500 years of European history, ending with the collapse of Communism, so it's out of date for the past 15 years or so, but most of us are quite capable of filling in those gaps. Besides, that's what the second edition of this book is for. I would definitely recommend this one.

My initial contact with Merriman was with the 2nd volume of his 1st edition of "History of Modern Europe" for a class in college. As a self-professed "history nerd", I find some works to be more engrossing than the lay historian might. Upon reading Merriman's work, however, I was completely drawn into the journey through the history of Europe. Merriman brilliantly weaves vast quanitites of information from all genres into a relatively concise history. He has balanced his narrative with interesting anecdotes and snippets of the human quirks that give flavor to any history. Even more, however, is his crackling prose. Make no mistake, I am not placing him alongside Dickens or Henry James when it comes to masterful prose. Merriman does offer a fluid text that engages the reader, unlike the all-too-often crippling effect of Kalahari-dry writing.

Merriman provokes thought about issues that molded and wound Europe into what it is today. The reader can jump into this work with both feet and be immersed in a vivid world of kingdoms, religion-dominated realms, and, eventually, the nation-state.

I recommend this text for anyone who is looking for an in-depth, yet not suffocating history of Europe.

This is a well-wrought text, written from a modern perspective. The sentences are somewhat choppy and terse, but this is mainly to establish an objective tone. This survey covers a huge range of concepts, people, events and countries, but puts them together in a cohesive way. The author has a modern, fairly well-cultured personality judging from his style and presentation. The text itself is rather biased; the author seems to assemble facts together such that conclusions drawn from them constitute the framework of a "modern" late-20th-century post-Berlin-wall perspective and paradigm for evaluating, in hindsite, 20th century European history. Now, this paradigm that he subtly promotes is a fairly responsible and professional one, but one should keep in mind, in spite of its objective and reasonably-fair tone, this book reflects the views of a dissident late-20th century intellectual. Judging by Merriman's inclusion (and, by implication, promotion) of Picasso, Klimpt and Munch paintings in the color illustrations in the book, he harbors an intense contempt at the "savagery" of 20th century history, and tries to instill such views in his reader, to the extent that he can, while still creating an objective-sounding, fairly well-balanced history book.

This textbook is excellent. It provides an in-peth analysis of European History, without being too in depth. It provides information on many subjects, including culture, art, politics, and religion. The book is a worthy investment for all who are studying European History.

This book is typically too expensive for me to buy. I couldn't believe the great price. It arrived quickly in perfect shape.

A History of Modern Europe is a comprehensive ouverview of European History. It takes the reader through history in a likeable pattern where it switches from country to country and maintains a chronological path. If one is looking for a history of an individual country, one needs to flip from one section to another. I enjoy history, and suprisingly enjoy history textbooks. This book is great factually, and leaves the reader with a sense of the little stories of history.