Europe: A History

I confess to not having read all the pages in this book; but I won't be the only one. This thick, tummy-crushing volume is really better suited for browsing. Even students won't be assigned to read the whole thing. I suggest roaming through it, and selecting the bits of European history that one finds of interest. The once-over is light, of course—how could it not be, in a single volume that begins with the paleolithic era and goes up to 1996? But Norman Davies is an interesting and colorful writer, and it's worthwhile hearing what he has to say, even about things that are familiar. One encounters some novel details, as well as Mr. Davies' particular point of view. Mr. Davies is known for his earlier work on Poland. Thus it is not surprising that Eastern Europe gets more attention from him than it does from most other “western” writers. Hence his book may be in some sense more balanced; but at times the preoccupation with the East leads to distractions. For instance, he interrupts his discussion of the French revolution by introducing simultaneous events in Poland. He feels that earlier books have insufficiently emphasized the evils of the Soviet Union—which is not a shortcoming of this one. A few odd features of this book may be noted. Mr. Davies likes to think of Europe not as a continent, but rather as a peninsula of the Eurasian landmass. In keeping with this view his maps are all oriented with west at the top and east at the bottom, making Europe look like an upraised thumb. I found this self-indulgent and heartily confusing; it slows down one's comprehension of the many maps that are supplied. Another peculiarity is the insertion of what the author calls “capsules,” which are miniature discussions of special topics, more-or-less related to the main material. These things give the book the feeling of a textbook (where they are very often used as relief entertainments for students who are expected to be bored.) Moreover the capsules have their own system of notes, with a separate section of explanations at the back of the book. The main text contains references to the capsules, but in order find a certain capsule you have to refer to a special table of contents, also at the back. The upshot is that it's quite hard to find reference notes in this book. My greatest complaint about this (paperback) volume is that it is just too thick. You will need strong hands, if you are to hold it in front of you for very long. And if you read it in bed, it will crush your chest and stop your breathing. That is another reason for browsing in this book, rather than trying to read it straight through.

If you want a one volume history of Europe, you're really talking about reading this or  The Penguin History of Europe . Other options in this space are either significantly older and/or highly focused on the Western nations.In his extensive Introduction, Davies attacks this West-centric history idea of history and makes a case for a history that encompasses everything from the Volga to the Atlantic, making the case that this area is much more interrelated than prior historians have allowed, and that "Eastern Europe" is partly a relic of Cold War conceptions. This is representative, more broadly of his iconoclastic style, which I like, but obviously others will not. His main goal is to bring the entire massive region under one cover. I was sold on this approach, and excited to dive into it.Davies has been criticized for historical inaccuracies, but in this corrected edition, most of those have been fixed. I find this arm chair quarterbacking ridiculous. A book of this scope is a massive undertaking that only a few have ever even attempted, and with the level of detail he's trying to get, there are bound to be errors on the first outing. So after checking out what I was getting into, I bought this one over Roberts.The problem with this book is neither it's scope, approach, or accuracy. The problem is the execution. Davies loves to focus on interesting facts that are not really major historical moments, and then throw in major facts in a single sentence. This tendency shows in the huge number of callouts that he puts in the book. In other works, these are fun items to expand your horizon, but here we're talking about more than a hundred pages worth of them. It becomes a distraction. Of course you can ignore these, but these are simply representations of the way the text itself is written.People have referred to this book as a reference, but that is not the goal. A huge multi-volume work would be used as a reference. This is supposed to be a book you read to get up to speed on the scope of european history. In this goal, Davies falls short. The reader must plough through a lot of detail, which I was prepared for, but I was expecting a better payoff -- a more comprehensive understanding of Europe. A narrative is need to make sense of those facts, and Davies almost completely lacks one.Take a look at Roberts. He has none of the problems. His book reads like a page-turner by comparison. Don't be deceived into thinking that this longer book will teach you more. When you account for the sidebars, introduction, poetry, footnotes, etc, it's not that much longer, or broader in scope and it's a lot harder to make use of the information.

I feel a sense of relief having finished this book. That's not something one would normally feel on finishing what is a good book, but this is such an enormous relentless tome, that it is pretty exhausting. Even though I have read several books in parallel, this one has tired me!Davies covers European history in the full, from the earliest times to the point of completion of the book back in 1991. It is by its nature broad brush history, but Davies includes plenty of small details and historical anecdotes which bring a sense of realism to the history he is describing. This is a work of phenomenal education and breadth of knowledge. I like the way Davies neither sticks to the history of big events or the history of social trends, but brings both together. I like the coverage of a real European history - from Russia to Ireland, not just western Europe as is so common.There are a few faults. At times it reads more like an encyclopedia as you jump from one part of history to another in the long chapters. The little inserts on items of interest do not always work, and even when they are interesting can disrupt the flow of reading. Some smaller, but very interesting, countries in Europe could complain this focuses too much on the big nations - such as Italy, the UK, France, Germany, Poland and Russia. Additionally, this is a massive book for a paperback - 1,400 pages long with larger than normal pages, which at times just makes it hard to handle. A 2 volume version would have been preferable. This may seem like a minor gripe, but this is not a book to be carried around,. If, like me, you do a lot of reading whilst travelling this book, at least in physical form, is probably a non-starter.The book reads pretty poignantly given recent events. The ease with which extreme right wing and nationalist parties have risen time and time again in Europe should be a part of history better understood. The ease with which historical "facts" have been manipulated, represented and recreated to suit a particular politic message is something everyone could do with knowing.

This is a dense read and a massive history book. It will take me a long time to read and digest.It arrived promptly and in good condition. If Norman Davies' other writings are anything to go by, this will be an informative and re-readable book from which I will learn a great deal

This was a fine review of European history. I found the second half of the book to be quite a bit stronger than the first, in which many issues were treated incredibly skimpily and Davies often resorted to frantically listing monarchs and their reigns in a manner that really taught me next to nothing. There is also a lack of emphasis on many important aspects of history, particularly the economy, family and everyday life. All that said, there is lots on info packed into this book and you will learn quite a bit if you can get through it.

Not an easy read at times but extensively detailed & informative. Massively complex subject and timeline though. Mary Beard's SPQR is a good primer for the Roman bit but I think this will be a tome I will cherish return to.

The print edition is 1300 pages of pure gold but its size and scope make it possible to spend half a day getting lost in it whilst trying to look something up! The Kindle edition is all but a one-book argument for buying a Kindle: keyword searches make using the book much more efficient and the citations are live, which vastly eases things if you want to see where he quotes from. It's also much more comfortable to read this on the kindle than in print.