A Pocket Essential Short History of Europe: From Charlemagne to the Treaty of Lisbon - Couverture souple

Kerr, Gordon

 
9780857303455: A Pocket Essential Short History of Europe: From Charlemagne to the Treaty of Lisbon

Synopsis

What is Europe? Firstly, of course, it is a continent made up of countless disparate peoples, races and nations, and governed by different ideas, philosophies, religions and attitudes. Nonetheless, it has a common thread of history running through it, stitching the lands and peoples of its past and present together into one fabric. This narrative is welded together by the continent's great institutions, such as the Church of Rome, the Holy Roman Empire, the European Union, individual monarchies, trade organisations and social movements. At times they have prevented anarchy from destroying the achievements of the many great men and women the continent has produced. At other times, of course, it is these very institutions that have been at the heart of the war and strife that have threatened to reduce Europe to ruin on numerous occasions. Europe, however, is also an idea. From almost the beginning of time, men have harboured aspirations to make this vast territory one. The Romans came close and a few centuries later, the foundations for a great European state were laid with the creation of the Holy Roman Empire - an empire different to any other in that it enjoyed the approval of God, through the Church in Rome. Napoleon overreached himself in attempting to create a European-wide Empire - as did Adolf Hitler. Now, however, Europe is as close as it ever has been to being one entity. The European Union is an ever-expanding club of which many seek membership, although, as the recent rejection of the European Constitution by the French and the Dutch and the Brexit vote demonstrate, we Europeans still cling to our national independence.

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À propos de l'auteur

Gordon Kerr worked in bookselling and publishing before becoming a full-time writer. He is the author of several titles including A Short History of Europe, A Short History of Africa, A Short History of China, A Short History of Brazil, A Short History of the First World War, A Short History of the Vietnam War, A Short History of the Middle East, A Short History of Religion and The War That Never Ended. He divides his time between Dorset and Southwest France.

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Autres éditions populaires du même titre

9781842433461: A Short History of Europe: From Charlemagne to the Treaty of Lisbon

Edition présentée

ISBN 10 :  1842433466 ISBN 13 :  9781842433461
Editeur : Pocket Essentials, 2010
Couverture souple