Product Description

Suitable for 19th and 20th century Europe/modern Europe undergraduate courses.This well-established and immensely successful book provides a standard introduction to the subject by one of Britain's most popular historians. Social, economic and social history are skillfully integrated within a framework of political narrative history.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #54328 in Books
• Published on: 2000-10-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 544 pages

Review

Roberts' insight in to the shifting sands of European affairs is both concise and well argued. Structured argument and an interesting critique is inherent throughout, whilst evidence of a resounding depth of knowledge is ever present. A period, dogged by war, colonialism, and the emergence of powerful nation states is portrayed with resounding historical passion.

A reader from Edinburgh, Amazon.co.uk

From the Back Cover
Europe 1880-1945 surveys the continent when it was at the apogee of its power. In these sixty five years Europe's political and economic domination of the globe came to a climax and then crumbled. Europe's internal divisions and failure to solve internal problems brought it twice to the brink of self destruction. European quarrels detonated two World Wars and the struggle to dominate Europe dictated the course of both.
Europe 1880-1945 is the classic survey of the period. Social, economic and cultural history are integrated within a firm framework of political narrative and the major themes around which the text is organised are presented through sharp and striking detail. These general themes link together the history of individual countries; it is a true history of Europe as a whole.
For this new edition, John Roberts has revised the text in the light of the latest scholarship and added a new guide to further reading.
John Roberts taught for twenty five years at Oxford, before becoming Vice-Chancellor of the University of Southampton and then returning to Oxford to become Warden of Merton College.
He is the author of many successful books, including History of World and wrote and recorded a thirteen part television series for BBC, Triumph of the World.

Customer Reviews

Informative but dull.
J.M. Roberts, knows his subject, no doubt about that. He covers social, economic and cultural history over a period of 65 years. All important themes are covered, as you would expect from this type of book, such as the fall of the Austro-Hungarian empire, both World Wars, rise of Fascism, Russian revolution etc. It is easy to navigate the chapters and find areas you are looking for.
However, this book is written in a dull, heavy style. Roberts seems to delight in long winded prose when making a point, not something that lends itself to easy reading. Certainly it has it's uses as a text for the undergraduate historian but for the casual reader it may be just a little too much.

Roberts "Europe, 1880-1945"
This was a set book that I had to purchase for my present course with the Open University. Roberts covers the period well although some of the text does not flow smoothly, in my opinion. However, to get an understanding of Europe during the two wars, it is very informative with a lot of background information.

Succinct yet breathtaking analysis of the period
Roberts' insight in to the shifting sands of European affairs is both concise and well argued. Structured argument and an interesting critique is inherent throughout, whilst evidence of a resounding depth of knowledge is ever present. A period, dogged by war, colonialism, and the emergence of powerful nation states is portrayed with resounding historical passion. The difficulties in dealing with such a tumultuous period of history are evident, yet they do not become burdensome to the point of detracting from the novel. 65 years which incorporate the zenith of Bismarcks political weight in Germany, the rise of the fascist state under Mussolini in Italy, and two wars which define the twentieth century for our generation, are vividly depicted. Innovative and charming, this book is imperative for an up to date understanding of the period.