A History of Modern Europe, Volume 2: From the French Revolution to the Present

by John M. Merriman

Available in both one-volume and two-volume paperback editions, A History of Modern Europe presents a panoramic survey of modern Europe from the Renaissance to the present day. A seasoned teacher and talented historian, Professor Merriman’s offers a carefully crafted narrative that guides students through a vast amount of complex material, integrating the many aspects of the European experience into a larger, interconnected whole. A full 10% shorter than its predecessor, the Second Edition has tightened organization throughout to make room for recent research and descriptions of the current issues and events that define Europe’s role in the world today.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, European History, Read For School, Textbooks, Politics, 19th Century

1466 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1996

About the author

John Mustard Merriman was Charles Seymour Professor of History at Yale University. He earned his B.A. (1968) and Ph.D. (1972) at the University of Michigan. Merriman received Yale University’s Harwood F. Byrnes/Richard B. Sewall Teaching Prize in 2000, and was awarded a Docteur Honoris Causa in France in 2002, and the “Medal of Meritorious Service to Polish Education” (Medal Kimisji Edukacji Narodowej) awarded by the Ministry of Education of Poland in 2009.

Reviews

[Dave Harmon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally finished this 1400 page monster or european history. and it was well worth the work to get through it. there was a lot of perhaps excessive detail but still good. Major take always for me:
1 nationalism is evil.
2 "the right" has always been on the wrong side of history. (supporting monarchy, supporting papism, opposing secularism, opposing the right for non-rich people to vote, opposing suffrage for women & minorities, supporting slavery, fascism, racism, nationalism, nazis, et cetera et cetera et cetera) Conservatism seems to function as a brake to slow things down to keep progress from going too much too fast- (e.g. the communist revolution in russia.)
3 ive never been one to just call someone a fascist because i never knew exactly what that actually meant. now i do and i can say with certainty that donald trump actually is a fascist. - the parallels between him and mussolini are many and surprising.

[Rin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is really good, comprehensive and detailed, engaging...
A lot of space is given to social history - and its various movements, ideas, events - not just military.
There's also parts on art and religion, but I found them a bit dull compared to other topics.

I found certain errors for topics on Balkans region but nothing major.
Also, some parts went into too much detail it disrupted the flow of the narative,
confusing the reader in the process.

The maps were awesome, as well as portraits.

Overall, 3,5/ 5 stars from me.
Good introduction to general modern European history, not so much for specific national histories.

[norah]

read all 800 pages so might as well log it

[Axepig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This textbook is very dense and covers a very lenghty period over a whole continent so expect it to be more of a survey than detailed descriptions. It does not explore much explanations or causes beyond a superficial level. Still it has helped me a lot solidify my base of European history, I do not know if there are better textbooks for this whole timeframe, but this book does the job.

There are some very clear bias towards the UK, some towards France. The Iberian peninsula is barely spoken about, Italy is only about its unification and world wars, the Balkans and Ottoman Empire are quite stereotyped (this was perhaps the biggest issue for me), Russia before the 20th century is barely talked about and the Scandinavian countries are not talked about either. The author seems to follow the very orthodox notion that history is written by the Great Powers and he makes it a point to follow them over anything else. That said, there is a truly impressive selections of further readings at the end, some of which are very good surveys of regions that were left out.

[Gabriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

pretty good. I don't agree with his way of doing history. I would prefer Hobsbawm

[Sierra Allred · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this textbook and feel like it offered a great overview of hundreds of years of history; however, I have two major issues. 1) Merriman emphasized odd details sometimes and glossed over important details other times. 2) As the chapter began to cover more recent history, more of Merriman’s biases began to shape the information provided. I acknowledge that it is inevitable for opinions to slip into any history of recent years, but the last chapter of this book read as more of a political commentary than an objective history. Still, I enjoyed reading most of this book, and I feel as though I learned a lot!

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Western civilzation … am I right?

[Mark Singer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Merriman's text manages to be both complete and descriptive without being long-winded, which is a major accomplishment for a history textbook. I first read this book in the spring of 2009 for a college course called "Revolutionary Europe: 1789 to 1989" and am currently reading Chapters 12-22, from the French Revolution to the First World War (1789-1914), in preparation for a course I am taking in the fall of 2010 on 19th century Europe.

[Ed Callahan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a dense, rich, and clearly written history of modern Europe. I have used it as a supplement to the textbook for the Western Civilization II class I recently finished teaching. My only criticism of this text is that the illustrations are in black and white, and so the reader is left somewhat unexposed to the richness of the art which has been produced throughout this time period. That being said, you cannot go wrong using this text as an introduction to the time period.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this for History 202- Easily readable but sometimes hard to follow as he jumps back and forth through time by grouping the book into themes.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love his teaching style and that translates into his writing.

[Daly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is incredibly detailed and rich. You will not feel overwhelmed by the density of historical detail. In fact, the narrator has a unique tone that keeps you engaged with the events!