First published over thirty years ago, War in European History is a brilliantly written survey of the changing ways that war has been waged in Europe, from the Norse invasions to the present day. Far more than a simple military history, the book serves as a succinct and enlightening overview of the development of European society as a whole over the last millennium. From the Norsemen and the world of the medieval knights, through to the industrialized mass warfare of the twentieth century, Michael Howard illuminates the way in which warfare has shaped the history of the Continent, its effect on social and political institutions, and the ways in which technological and social change have in turn shaped the way in which wars are fought. This new edition includes a fully updated further reading and a new final chapter bringing the story into the twenty-first century, including the invasion of Iraq and the so-called 'War against Terror'.

A lively, beautifully illustrated history of theatrical stage design from ancient Greek times to the present, coauthored by the world's leading authority, Oscar G. Brockett.

Read about the world's smallest continent's incredible history: From Greek gods and mad Roman emperors to kings, queens, Visigoths, and Normans You meet Visigoths in Africa and Normans in Sicily; an Italian who talked to his books and another who conquered a kingdom and gave it away; Roman emperors who weren't Roman; and Holy Roman Emperors who weren't holy (or Roman). This is the story of Europe's rich history rolled into one thrilling account in plain English. European History For Dummies takes you on a fascinating journey through the disasters, triumphs, people, power, and politics that have shaped the Europe we know today - and you'll meet some incredible characters along the way! From Roman relics to the Renaissance, World Wars, and Eurovision, this accessible guide packs in the facts alongside fun tidbits and brings the past alive. You meet the two Catholic kings of Spain (one was a woman) and the Spanish king who never smiled. You discover a German monk who split Europe in two because he was so afraid of going to hell. And what about the great European war that started when two nobles were thrown out of a window onto a dungheap? Well, at least they had a soft landing. If you don't remember much of what you learned about European history at school, if you didn't like those dry school textbooks, if you think European history sounds a bit hard, but you're interested anyway, this is the book for you. Inside you'll discover: The varied history of the world's smallest continent, its origins, and its huge impact on the world How the Romans shaped the ancient world, what they learned from the Greeks, and what they lost to the barbarian tribes The many battles of the Middle Ages and the leaders who waged them The medieval people's great achievements in building and learning Europeans' world explorers, including Columbus and Vasco da Gama Unfortunate religious wars and the persecution of witches Europe's world domination in the 18th and 19th centuries The world wars of the 20th century European life today Get your own copy of European History For Dummies to learn all of that and more -- including the ten Europeans who dominated the continent, ten unforgettable dates, and ten European locales you'll absolutely want to visit.

From the ashes of World War II to the conflict over Iraq, William Hitchcock examines the miraculous transformation of Europe from a deeply fractured land to a continent striving for stability, tolerance, democracy, and prosperity. Exploring the role of Cold War politics in Europe’s peace settlement and the half century that followed, Hitchcock reveals how leaders such as Charles de Gaulle, Willy Brandt, and Margaret Thatcher balanced their nations’ interests against the demands of the reigning superpowers, leading to great strides in economic and political unity. He re-creates Europeans’ struggles with their troubling legacy of racial, ethnic, and national antagonism, and shows that while divisions persist, Europe stands on the threshold of changes that may profoundly shape the future of world affairs.

Walter Cohen argues that the history of European literature and each of its standard periods can be illuminated by comparative consideration of the different literary languages within Europe and by the ties of European literature to world literature. World literature is marked by recurrent, systematic features, outcomes of the way that language and literature are at once the products of major change and its agents. Cohen tracks these features from ancient times to the present, distinguishing five main overlapping stages. Within that framework, he shows that European literatures ongoing internal and external relationships are most visible at the level of form rather than of thematic statement or mimetic representation. European literature emerges from world literature before the birth of Europe — during antiquity, whose Classical languages are the heirs to the complex heritage of Afro-Eurasia. This legacy is later transmitted by Latin to the various vernaculars. The uniqueness of the process lies in the gradual displacement of the learned language by the vernacular, long dominated by Romance literatures. That development subsequently informs the second crucial differentiating dimension of European literature: the multicontinental expansion of its languages and characteristic genres, especially the novel, beginning in the Renaissance. This expansion ultimately results in the reintegration of European literature into world literature and thus in the creation of todays global literary system. The distinctiveness of European literature is to be found in these interrelated trajectories.

A Companion to the writing produced by the English Revolution, with supporting chronology and guide to further reading.

Basing his analysis on a cultural anthropological approach, Professor McNeill surveys events from ancient Greece to the industrialized states of modern Europe. He examines the interacting social and economic forces and the influence and diffusion of succeeding centres of power and culture.

Two French Protestant refugees in eighteenth-century Amsterdam gave the world an extraordinary work that intrigued and outraged readers across Europe. In this captivating account, Lynn Hunt, Margaret Jacob, and Wijnand Mijnhardt take us to the vibrant Dutch Republic and its flourishing book trade to explore the work that sowed the radical idea that religions could be considered on equal terms. Famed engraver Bernard Picart and author and publisher Jean Frederic Bernard produced The Religious Ceremonies and Customs of All the Peoples of the World, which appeared in the first of seven folio volumes in 1723. They put religion in comparative perspective, offering images and analysis of Jews, Catholics, Muslims, the peoples of the Orient and the Americas, Protestants, deists, freemasons, and assorted sects. Despite condemnation by the Catholic Church, the work was a resounding success. For the next century it was copied or adapted, but without the context of its original radicalism and its debt to clandestine literature, English deists, and the philosophy of Spinoza. Ceremonies and Customs prepared the ground for religious toleration amid seemingly unending religious conflict, and demonstrated the impact of the global on Western consciousness. In this beautifully illustrated book, Hunt, Jacob, and Mijnhardt cast new light on the profound insight found in one book as it shaped the development of a modern, secular understanding of religion.