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Peoples of Europe
Peoples of Europe is the newest addition to the highly regarded, curriculum-based series of reference sets on world populations and cultures. A celebration of Europe's rich diversity, this up-to-date set incorporates the latest (and ongoing) changes in European political and geographical landscape.
Europe by
With more than 2,400 full-color illustrations and detailed maps of over 23 great European cities, Eyewitness Travel Guide: Europe highlights the major sights in 20 countries and provides comprehensive information that no traveler should be without. Extending from the Urals of Russia to the Iberian Peninsula this guide covers a wide range a climates and cultures, from The British Isles and Eastern Europe to France and the Low Countries and Scandinavia. Perfect for students, business travelers, or anyone just making their way through Europe, the reference includes a brief history of the continent, maps of railways, and practical advice for any traveler.
Eastern Europe! by
When the legendary Romulus killed his brother Remus and founded the city of Rome in 753 BCE, Plovdiv--today the second-largest city in Bulgaria--was thousands of years old. Indeed, London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Madrid, Brussels, Amsterdam are all are mere infants compared to Plovdiv. This is just one of the paradoxes that haunts and defines the New Europe, that part of Europe that was freed from Soviet bondage in 1989, and which is at once both much older than the modern Atlantic-facing power centers of Western Europe while also being much younger than them. Eastern Europe! is a brief and concise (but informative) introduction to Eastern Europe and its myriad customs and history. Even those knowledgeable about Western Europe often see Eastern Europe as terra incognito, with a sign on the border declaring "Here be monsters." Tomek Jankowski's book is a gateway to understanding both what unites and separates Eastern Europeans from their Western brethren, and how this vital region has been shaped by but has also left its mark on Western Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. It is a reader-friendly guide to a region that is all too often mischaracterized as remote, insular, and superstitious. The book comprises three parts, The first sums up modern linguistic, geographic, and religious contours of Eastern Europe, while the second, main part delves into the region's history, from the earliest origins of Europe up to the end of the Cold War. Closing the book is a section that makes sense of geographical name references -- many cities, rivers, or regions have different names -- and also includes an "Eastern Europe by Numbers" feature that provides charts describing the populations, politics, and economies of the region today. Throughout are boxed-off anecdotes ("Useless Trivia") describing fascinating aspects of Eastern European history or culture.
Art in Europe, 1700-1830 by
Hogarth's pugnaciously xenophobic `Gates of Calais', Giambattista Tiepolo's grandiose murals at Wurzburg, Goya's satirical engravings, Los Caprichos, and Canova's chastely classical sculptures could hardly be more different but all are aspects of the same period. In an era of unprecedentedchange - rapid urbanization, economic growth, political revolution - artists were in the business of finding new ways of making art, new ways of selling art, and new ways of talking about art.Matthew Craske creates a totally new and vivid picture of eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century art in Europe, taking a critical view of such conventional categorizations as the `Rococo', the `Neo-Classical', and the `Romantic'. He engages with crucial thematic issues such as changes in `taste'and `manners' and the impact of enlightenment notions of progress, and at the same time goes well beyond the usual geographical limits of surveys to take in St Petersburg, Copenhagen, Warsaw, and Madrid. The result is a refreshingly holistic survey which sets the art of the period firmly in itssocial history.
Christendom Destroyed by
"The latest volume to appear in the Penguin History of Europe. Like its companion volumes, [Christendom Destroyed] is no breezy survey but a masterly synthesis of depth and breadth."--The Wall Street Journal "The political and religious conflicts of early modern Europe receive high-quality treatment from Greengrass.... an excellent addition to the new Penguin History of Europe."--Financial Times From peasants to princes, no one was untouched by the spiritual and intellectual upheaval of the sixteenth century. Martin Luther's challenge to church authority forced Christians to examine their beliefs in ways that shook the foundations of their religion. The subsequent divisions, fed by dynastic rivalries and military changes, fundamentally altered the relations between ruler and ruled. Geographical and scientific discoveries challenged the unity of Christendom as a belief community. Europe, with all its divisions, emerged instead as a geographical projection. Chronicling these dramatic changes, Thomas More, Shakespeare, Montaigne, and Cervantes created works that continue to resonate with us. Spanning the years 1517 to 1648, Christendom Destroyed is Mark Greengrass's magnum opus: a rich tapestry that fosters a deeper understanding of Europe's identity today.
Out of Ashes by
A sweeping history of twentieth-century Europe that examines its unprecedented destruction--and abiding promise A sweeping history of twentieth-century Europe, Out of Ashes tells the story of an era of unparalleled violence and barbarity yet also of humanity, prosperity, and promise. Konrad Jarausch describes how the European nations emerged from the nineteenth century with high hopes for continued material progress and proud of their imperial command over the globe, only to become embroiled in the bloodshed of World War I, which brought an end to their optimism and gave rise to competing democratic, communist, and fascist ideologies. He shows how the 1920s witnessed renewed hope and a flourishing of modernist art and literature, but how the decade ended in economic collapse and gave rise to a second, more devastating world war and genocide on an unprecedented scale. Jarausch further explores how Western Europe surprisingly recovered due to American help and political integration. Finally, he examines how the Cold War pushed the divided continent to the brink of nuclear annihilation, and how the unforeseen triumph of liberal capitalism came to be threatened by Islamic fundamentalism, global economic crisis, and an uncertain future. A stunning achievement, Out of Ashes explores the paradox of the European encounter with modernity in the twentieth century, shedding new light on why it led to cataclysm, inhumanity, and self-destruction, but also social justice, democracy, and peace.
An Economic History of Nineteenth-Century Europe by
Why did some countries and regions of Europe reach high levels of economic advancement in the nineteenth century, while others were left behind? This new transnational survey of the continent's economic development highlights the role of regional differences in shaping each country's economic path and outcome. Presenting a clear and cogent explanation of the historical causes of advancement and backwardness, Ivan Berend integrates social, political, institutional and cultural factors as well as engaging in debates about the relative roles of knowledge, the state and institutions. Featuring boxed essays on key personalities including Adam Smith, Friedrich List, Gustave Eiffel and the Krupp family, as well as brief histories of innovations such as the steam engine, vaccinations and the co-operative system, the book helps to explain the theories and macro-economic trends that dominated the century and their impact on the subsequent development of the European economy right up to the present day.
Europe by
From internationally bestselling author and celebrated scientist Tim Flannery, a history of Europe unlike any before: an ecological account of the land itself and the forces shaping life on it. InEurope: A Natural History, world-renowned scientist, explorer, and conservationist Tim Flannery applies the eloquent interdisciplinary approach he used in his ecological histories of Australia and North America to the story of Europe. He begins 100 million years ago, when the continents of Asia, North America, and Africa interacted to create an island archipelago that would later become the Europe we know today. It was on these ancient tropical lands that the first distinctly European organisms evolved. Flannery teaches us about Europe's midwife toad, which has endured since the continent's beginning, while elephants, crocodiles, and giant sharks have come and gone. He explores the monumental changes wrought by the devastating comet strike and shows how rapid atmospheric shifts transformed the European archipelago into a single landmass during the Eocene. As the story moves through millions of years of evolutionary history, Flannery eventually turns to our own species, describing the immense impact humans had on the continent's flora and fauna--within 30,000 years of our arrival in Europe, the woolly rhino, the cave bear, and the giant elk, among others, would disappear completely. The story continues right up to the present, as Flannery describes Europe's leading role in wildlife restoration, and then looks ahead to ponder the continent's future: with advancements in gene editing technology, European scientists are working to recreate some of the continent's lost creatures, such as the great ox of Europe's primeval forests and even the woolly mammoth. Written with Flannery's characteristic combination of elegant prose and scientific expertise,Europe: A Natural History narrates the dramatic natural history and dynamic evolution of one of the most influential places on Earth.
The Rhine by
From rowing the canals of Amsterdam to riding a cow through the Alps, via Cold War nuclear bunkers, raucous Gay Pride parades, tranquil Lake Constance and snowy mountain climbs, The Rhine blends travelogue and offbeat history to tell the fascinating story of how a great river helped shape a continent. SHORTLISTED FOR THE STANFORD DOLMAN TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD The Rhine is one of the world's greatest rivers. Once forming the outer frontier of the Roman Empire, it flows 800 miles from the social democratic playground of the Netherlands, through the industrial and political powerhouses of Germany and France, to the wealthy mountain fortresses of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. For five years, Ben Coates lived alongside a major channel of the river in Rotterdam, crossing it daily, swimming and sailing in its tributaries. In The Rhine, he sets out by bicycle from the Netherlands where it enters the North Sea, following it through Germany, France and Liechtenstein, to where its source in the icy Alps. He explores the impact that the Rhine has had on European culture and history and finds out how influences have flowed along and across the river, shaping the people who live alongside it.
Europe Before Rome by
Werner Herzog's 2011 film Cave of Forgotten Dreams, about the painted caves at Chauvet, France brought a glimpse of Europe's extraordinary prehistory to a popular audience. But paleolithic cave paintings, stunning as they are, form just a part a story that begins with the arrival of the firsthumans to Europe 1.3 million years ago and culminates in the achievements of Greece and Rome.In Europe before Rome, T. Douglas Price takes readers on a guided tour through dozens of the most important prehistoric sites on the continent, from very recent discoveries to some of the most famous and puzzling places in the world, like Chauvet, Stonehenge, and Knossos. This volume focuses on morethan 60 sites, organized chronologically according to their archaeological time period and accompanied by 200 illustrations, including color photographs, maps, and drawings. Our understanding of prehistoric European archaeology has been almost completely rewritten in the last 25 years with a seriesof major findings from virtually every time period, such as Otzi the Iceman, the discoveries at Atapuerca, and evidence of a much earlier eruption at Mt. Vesuvius. Many of the sites explored in the book offer the earliest European evidence we have of the typical features of human society - toolmaking, hunting, cooking, burial practices, agriculture, and warfare. Introductory prologues to each chapter provide context for the wider changes in human behavior and society in the time period, while the author's concluding remarks offer expert reflections on the enduring significance of theseplaces.Tracing the evolution of human society in Europe across more than a million years, Europe before Rome gives readers a vivid portrait of life for prehistoric man and woman.
Europe in Its Own Eyes, Europe in the Eyes of the Other by
What is Europe? Who is European? What do Europe and European identity mean in the twenty-first century? This collection of sixteen essays seeks to answer these questions by focusing on Europe as it is seen through its own eyes and through the eyes of others across a variety of cultural texts, including sport, film, literature, dance, cartography, and fashion. These texts, as interpreted here by emerging researchers as well as well-established scholars, enable us to engage with European identities in the plural and to understand what these identities mean in larger cultural and political contexts. The interdisciplinary focus of this volume permits an exploration of European identity that reaches beyond the area of European studies to incorporate understandings of identity from the viewpoints of both insider and other. Contributors explore diverse understandings of what it means to be "other" to a country, a culture, a society, or a subgroup. This book offers a fresh perspective on the evolving concept of identity--in the context of Europe's past, present, and future--and expands on the existing literature by considering the political tensions and social implications of the development of European identity, as well as its literary, artistic, and cultural manifestations.
The human tradition in modern Europe, 1750 to the present by
This engaging and humanizing text traces the development of Europe since the mid-eighteenth century through the lives of people of the time. Capturing key moments, themes, and events in the continent's turbulent modern past, the book explores how ordinary Europeans both shaped their societies and were affected by larger historical processes. By focusing on the lives of individual actors, both famous and obscure, students can gain a sense for how the well-known revolutions, wars, and social transformations of the modern era were experienced in private homes, work places, political forums, and on battlefields throughout the region.Fittingly, the book opens with the French Revolution and concludes with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of Eastern European communism. Throughout, the contributors use compelling biographies to examine many of the major events and developments in European history, including the age of reaction and revolutions in the early nineteenth century; industrialization; Victorianism; new imperialism; fin de siècle culture; the first and second World Wars; the Russian Revolution; Italian fascism, Nazism, the Holocaust, and decolonization; Americanization; and the 1968 youth revolts.
The Social Atlas of Europe by
CHOICE OUTSTANDING ACADEMIC TITLE 2015 Many of us think of European countries as discreet entities--their own languages, cultures, food, and economies squarely contained within their national boundaries. But in fact Europe is at once a unified place and a sophisticatedly fragmented one, and national boundaries rarely reflect its social and economic realities. The social atlas of Europe is the first atlas to map Europe according to these realities, from the perspective of human geography rather than simply a political one. Using innovative full-color visualization methods, it reconsiders European identity through its many different facets: economy, culture, history, and human and physical geography, visualizing Europe and its people in a more fluid way, in some cases using maps without artificial national boundaries. It utilizes the latest available demographic, social, and economic data through state-of-the-art geographical information systems and new cartography techniques. Through these new visualizations, this highly illustrated book offers fresh perspectives on a range of topics, including social values, culture, education, employment, environmental footprints, health and well-being, and social inequalities and cohesion. It is a bold rethinking of Europe as we know it and will be of interest to anyone who wants to understand the continent in its truest form.
Modern Greece by
This latest volume in the Understanding Modern Nations series explores Greece, the birthplace of democracy and Western philosophical ideas. This thematic encyclopedia is one-of-its kind in its down-to-earth approach and comprehensive analysis of complex issues now facing Greece. It analyzes such topics as government and economics without jargon and brings a lighthearted approach to chapters on such topics as etiquette (e.g., what gestures to avoid so as not to offend), leisure (how Greeks celebrate holidays), and language (the meaning of "opa"). No other book on Greece is organized like this thematic encyclopedia, which has more than 200 entries on topics ranging from Archimedes to refugees. Unique to this encyclopedia is a "Day in the Life" section that explores the actions and thoughts of a high school student, a bank employee, a farmer in a small village, and a retired couple, giving readers a vivid snapshot of life in Greece.
Art in Europe by
The European continent gathers together, without a doubt, the most famous works of art, evidence of the history of Western art. The cultural capitals and their emblematic museums contain paintings, sculptures, or rather works of art, devised by the great artists, representative of European culture. From Madrid to London, passing through Prague, the major works of the old continent are presented here. Thanks to detailed information about the museums and their collections, you, too, can explore and discover Europe's fascinating cultural heritage
Landmarks in European Literature by
This book introduces thirty-two key works of European literature in translation to ordinary readers. Ranging from Dante's "Divine Comedy" to Brecht's "Threepenny Opera," Gaskell takes a canon of recognized literary classics and introduces each work, setting it in the literary and historical contexts of its times. The selection of works covers the main genres of poetry, prose, and drama, and the other authors included are Petrarch, Cillon, Ronsard, Montaigne, Cervantes, Moli Are, Voltaire, Rousseau, Goethe, Schiller, Pushkin, Lermontov, Blazac, Flaubert, Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Turgenev, Tolstoy, Dostoievsky, Ibsen, Strindberg, Hamsun, Chekhov, Gorky, Zola, Fontane, Proust, Mann, Kafka, and Pirandello.
Do I belong? : reflections from Europe by
A collection of original essays by novelists, journalists and academics exploring belonging and identity in Europe.
Medieval Europe by
A spirited and thought-provoking history of the vast changes that transformed Europe during the 1,000-year span of the Middle Ages The millennium between the breakup of the western Roman Empire and the Reformation was a long and hugely transformative period—one not easily chronicled within the scope of a few hundred pages. Yet distinguished historian Chris Wickham has taken up the challenge in this landmark book, and he succeeds in producing the most riveting account of medieval Europe in a generation. Tracking the entire sweep of the Middle Ages across Europe, Wickham focuses on important changes century by century, including such pivotal crises and moments as the fall of the western Roman Empire, Charlemagne's reforms, the feudal revolution, the challenge of heresy, the destruction of the Byzantine Empire, the rebuilding of late medieval states, and the appalling devastation of the Black Death. He provides illuminating vignettes that underscore how shifting social, economic, and political circumstances affected individual lives and international events. Wickham offers both a new conception of Europe's medieval period and a provocative revision of exactly how and why the Middle Ages matter.
Europe Reborn by
In the early twentieth century brutal nation-states such as Mussolini's Italy, Stalin's Russia and Hitler's Germany came to the fore and the twin evils of dictatorship and war ensured the rapid destruction of liberal democracy, market economics and the international order. In contrast, the latter half was concerned with re-thinking and re-shaping these core values which still guide political life after the millennium. Harold James analyses the failures and achievements of the twentieth century. The demands of the post-war period, namely the place of Europe in a wider international order are also examined. Features include: Boxed Case Studies Maps Plates Figures Short Biographies Chronologies Statistical Appendix James lucidly argues that European societies today are dominated by the trend to converge around the principles of democracy, market economics and international integration. He shows that the stability brought by the gradual unwinding of the nation-state and the end of left-right politics have created a Europe 'reborn'.
Why Europe? by
Why did capitalism and colonialism arise in Europe and not elsewhere? Why were parliamentarian and democratic forms of government founded there? What factors led to EuropeOCOs unique position in shaping the world? Thoroughly researched and persuasively argued, "Why Europe?" tackles these classic questions with illuminating results. Michael Mitterauer traces the roots of EuropeOCOs singularity to the medieval era, specifically to developments in agriculture. While most historians have located the beginning of EuropeOCOs special path in the rise of state power in the modern era, Mitterauer establishes its origins in rye and oats. These new crops played a decisive role in remaking the European family, he contends, spurring the rise of individualism and softening the constraints of patriarchy. Mitterauer reaches these conclusions by comparing Europe with other cultures, especially China and the Islamic world, while surveying the most important characteristics of European society as they took shape from the decline of the Roman empire to the invention of the printing press. Along the way, "Why Europe?" offers up a dazzling series of novel hypotheses to explain the unique evolution of European culture.
Europe for Dummies by
Lively and engaging, this invaluable handbook puts the continent's great cities and regions at your fingertips, and includes all the highlights plus the very best off-the-beaten-path experiences that make any visit to Europe memorable. Packed with experienced insider tips, Europe For Dummies offers: Essential information on London, Edinburgh, Dublin, Paris, Amsterdam, Munich & the Bavarian Alps, Vienna, Prague, Rome, Florence & Tuscany, Venice, Barcelona, and Athens A select choice of favorite hotels and eateries in every destination and price category Indispensable foreign language glossaries Advice on everything from planning a sensible itinerary and getting the best deals to using public transit and catching must-see sights Helpful tips on converting currencies, overcoming language barrier, avoiding crowds, and sampling local cuisine
Europe @ 2.4 Km/h by
Europe was the first continent to win a name for itself, and is the smallest of them all. So it should be easy to comprehend and its people should share a common outlook, right? Wrong. In his second book, wheelchair traveller Ken Haley crosses the Continent the long way round - from Russia to Portugal via the Arctic - and finds that Europeans are an endangered species. At the stately pace of 2.4 km/h the author is not out to break too many speed records, and takes comfort in the self-delusion that the slower he goes, the more he sees. While searching for true Europeans, Haley is embroiled in adventures that range from sharing a house with bank robbers in Norway to taking on the house at Monte Carlo. He also turns detective and discovers unsettling truths about his own European family. From the Arctic in summer to the Mediterranean in winter, Haley is always pushing against the grain, but his reward lies in meeting some of the most distinctive, charming and outrageous characters imaginable. By turns funny, serious, whimsical and witty, Haley's account of the Europeans, a people who seem to think Europe is somewhere else, will lead you on a twelve-nation tour de force - covering 26,000 km by train, bus, plane and ship - into the heart of Europe.
Calling on the Composer by
Across Europe, more than three hundred houses and museums commemorate the composers that lived and worked in them. In this book, two distinguished musicologists guide the reader and the musically curious traveller to these sites and provide essential information on their content and significance. They also offer practical information for the visitor, seasoned insights and lively commentary.