Europäisches Geschichtsbuch

by Frédéric Delouche

With over 520 illustrations and 120 colour maps, and covering 3,000 years, the Illustrated History of Europe unravels the many cultural, economic, social and political strands of Europe's history from a European rather than national perspective.The collective effort of twelve historians, from twelve different countries, it examines the great prehistoric people migrations, their cave paintings in Spain and France, the Roman Empire, the spread of christianity, the middle ages, the glory of the Renaissance, the Reformation, the revolutions, Empire building, the two world wars of the 20C, and concludes with the fall of the Berlin wall and the disintegration of the Soviet Union.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Reference, Historical

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[GoldGato · Rating 2 out of 5]

Starting with the first humans in Europe and ending with the beginning of the 21st-century, this book very specifically focuses on the major events that have occurred in Europe. That means there is quite a bit packed into just over 400 pages, including empires, wars, plagues, and trends.

There are twelve chapters in total with the Roman Empire (of course) getting its very own section. Every chapter begins with an intro along with maps and photos and illustrations. In fact, this is where I had an issue with the reading, as it’s rather like standing with dozens of other people in a closet. There simply is no space to breathe with text and all the other additions filling up the pages. Also, some of the maps were strange, I didn’t really understand them. It’s a good try, but I became very bored reading this and I had to force myself to move along. This book won many awards so maybe I am the wrong reader. But it left me feeling rather blank by the time I finished.

Book Season = Year Round (Pericles to the Euro)

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nicely produced volume, with beautiful pictures throughout. Yet the task seems almost impossible: to capture the salient aspects of European history in less than 400 pages - with illustrations. Moreover, the author tries to show how connected Europe is, as if the European Union was an inevitability. Yet any comprehensive survey of European history really shows just how culturally and historically diverse the continent was, and still is.