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Europe in Crisis 1598-1648
In the new edition of this classic book, Geoffrey Parker draws on material from all over Europe to provide an authoritative and exciting account of the eventful first half of the seventeenth century.
347 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
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155 people want to read
About the author
Geoffrey Parker
98 books171 followersGeoffrey Parker is Andreas Dorpalen Professor of European History and an Associate of the Mershon Center at The Ohio State University. He has published widely on the social, political and military history of early modern Europe, and in 2012 the Royal Dutch Academy recognized these achievements by awarding him its biennial Heineken Foundation Prize for History, open to scholars in any field, and any period, from any country.
Parker has written or co-written thirty-nine books, including The Military Revolution: Military innovation and the rise of the West, 1500-1800 (Cambridge University Press, 1988), winner of the 'best book prize' from both the American Military Institute and the Society for the History of Technology; The Grand Strategy of Philip II (Yale University Press, 1998), which won the Samuel Eliot Morison Prize from the Society of Military History; and Global Crisis: War, Climate Change and Catastrophe in the Seventeenth Century (Yale University Press, 2013), which won the Society of Military History’s Distinguished Book Prize and also one of the three medals awarded in 2014 by the British Academy for ‘a landmark academic achievement… which has transformed understanding of a particular subject’.
Before moving to Ohio State in 1997, Parker taught at Cambridge and St Andrews universities in Britain, at the University of British Columbia in Canada, and at Illinois and Yale Universities in the United States, teaching courses on the Reformation, European history and military history at both undergraduate and graduate levels. He has directed or co-directed over thirty Doctoral Dissertations to completion, as well as several undergraduate theses. In 2006 he won an OSU Alumni Distinguished Teaching Award.
He lives in Columbus, Ohio, and has four children. In 1987 he was diagnosed as having Multiple Sclerosis. His latest book is Imprudent King: A New Life of Philip II (Yale University Press, 2014).
Parker has written or co-written thirty-nine books, including The Military Revolution: Military innovation and the rise of the West, 1500-1800 (Cambridge University Press, 1988), winner of the 'best book prize' from both the American Military Institute and the Society for the History of Technology; The Grand Strategy of Philip II (Yale University Press, 1998), which won the Samuel Eliot Morison Prize from the Society of Military History; and Global Crisis: War, Climate Change and Catastrophe in the Seventeenth Century (Yale University Press, 2013), which won the Society of Military History’s Distinguished Book Prize and also one of the three medals awarded in 2014 by the British Academy for ‘a landmark academic achievement… which has transformed understanding of a particular subject’.
Before moving to Ohio State in 1997, Parker taught at Cambridge and St Andrews universities in Britain, at the University of British Columbia in Canada, and at Illinois and Yale Universities in the United States, teaching courses on the Reformation, European history and military history at both undergraduate and graduate levels. He has directed or co-directed over thirty Doctoral Dissertations to completion, as well as several undergraduate theses. In 2006 he won an OSU Alumni Distinguished Teaching Award.
He lives in Columbus, Ohio, and has four children. In 1987 he was diagnosed as having Multiple Sclerosis. His latest book is Imprudent King: A New Life of Philip II (Yale University Press, 2014).
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 25, 2022
Excelente marco para el estudio de los primeros años de siglo XVII. Este libro continúa la labor de otros historiadores que he ido leyendo y que crearon una colección de libros imprescindibles para conocer la historia de los siglos XVI y XVII y abre las puertas al estudio más pormenorizado de aspectos más concretos del periodo al aportar el marco general.
Escrito con un estilo agradable y nada rebuscado, ofrece una lectura fácil y accesible.
Escrito con un estilo agradable y nada rebuscado, ofrece una lectura fácil y accesible.
March 25, 2019
It read like a first-rate text book to me. I know a lot of other people differ. But nothing sparked a particular interest in me.
May 23, 2021
A balanced, nicely written overview of a remarkably messy period in European history.
Sometimes the author could not help get lost in some of the political and military minutiae of the 30 Years War and had trouble zooming out and giving summary insight into the political, economic causes and themes of the war. That said the writing was crisp and vivid and I probably retained more information than I would with most other authors.
The last 40 pages on the culture of 16th century Europe had some interesting content.
- significant amount of witch prosecution
- cultural obsession with war; unsurprising given the sheer chaos of the period;
- Paris briefly banned laughing in public;
- the emergence of a highly mobile, cross-European intelligentsia. In a political and social world that feels so foreign, voices like Descartes and Hobbes feel like an old uncle is talking to you
Sometimes the author could not help get lost in some of the political and military minutiae of the 30 Years War and had trouble zooming out and giving summary insight into the political, economic causes and themes of the war. That said the writing was crisp and vivid and I probably retained more information than I would with most other authors.
The last 40 pages on the culture of 16th century Europe had some interesting content.
- significant amount of witch prosecution
- cultural obsession with war; unsurprising given the sheer chaos of the period;
- Paris briefly banned laughing in public;
- the emergence of a highly mobile, cross-European intelligentsia. In a political and social world that feels so foreign, voices like Descartes and Hobbes feel like an old uncle is talking to you
May 5, 2022
Read more out of a sense of obligation than desire - what’s the point of having it on my bookshelf if I never open it? - this turned out to be an absorbing read, albeit one that may cause the shouting out of ‘false Dimitri’ to various inappropriate questions on University Challenge.
November 5, 2020
A typical book from Geoffrey Parker. Very well written, interesting and, fun and yet full of information.
It is perhaps a bit outdated, but still a very solid read.
It is perhaps a bit outdated, but still a very solid read.
May 2, 2021
I will definitely be reading more books by this author. An academic tone with high reliance on physical archives.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews