The History of Europe in Bite-sized Chunks

by Jacob F. Field

An accessible and succinct account of the story of Europe from its ancient foundations to the twenty-first century, The History of Europe in Bite-sized Chunks details the events, personalities, ideas and disasters that have shaped our continent.

The book is broken down into six easily digestible chapters: Classical Antiquity (2600 BCE to 600 CE); Medieval (600-1500); Reform and Enlightenment (1500-1780); Age of Revolutions (1780-1914); the Wars (1914-45); and the Making of Contemporary Europe (1945 to present). It begins with the first ancient culture to emerge in Europe: the Minoans. It then proceeds chronologically to the present day, taking in not just significant historical events but also overarching social, technological and cultural trends and their impact.

Throughout the book there are mini-biographies of notable individuals (such as Julius Caesar, Catherine the Great and Napoleon Bonaparte) who have been most significant in European history. It is also packed with amazing facts, details and maps that will give the reader a vivid understanding of Europe's past

With the prospect of Brexit looming in Spring 2019, there is no better time to get a handle on European history!

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Historical, Geography, World History

185 pages, Hardcover

First published March 7, 2019

About the author

Jacob F. Field is a historian and writer. He grew up in South London, completed his undergraduate degree in History at the University of Oxford, and then moved to Newcastle University for his PhD. He completed his doctoral thesis on the Great Fire of London in 2008, and has worked as a research associate at the University of Cambridge since then. Jacob has contributed to books including 1001 Historical Sites and 1001 Battles That Changed The Course Of History and published articles in journals including Economic History Review, London Journal and Urban History.

Reviews

[Maria Espadinha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Less is More


Our TBR piles are continuously growing like giant rabbits teeth. Aware of our shared calamity, J Field wrote a book where thousands years of European History are covered in less than 200 pages. 🤩🤩

I do hope more authors will gracefully embrace this minimalist sort of writing, cos less words in a book means more time for all the others out there claiming and shouting to be read (“Pick me! Pick me! Pick me!...”) 😜👍

[Graham “Smell the Ink” · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is written in a way that each subject matter is very short and something you can pick up and put down at random. Like a coffee table book that you peruse as you fancy.

There are lots of interesting facts ranging from the period of the Minoan civilisation up to the present day Europe. Politics, Religions, Industrial Revolutions, Wars and Notable Europeans including Socrates, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Joan of Arc, Louis X1V of France, Napoleon, Karl Marx, Marie Curie, Adolf Hitler, Albert Einstein, and Stalin to name but a few.

Hopefully we can learn from history to live peacefully in a civilised Society with collaboration and eduction. Why is our nature to press the repeat button, have we not suffered enough?

A nice little reference read indeed.

[Maria Espadinha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muito em Pouco

“A História da Europa para Pessoas com Pressa dará ao leitor uma compreensão geral da história de um continente onde ocorreram alguns dos acontecimentos mais importantes da humanidade. Existiram guerras selvagens, heróis altruístas, vilões famosos, ideais de valor, violência indiscriminada, inovações estrondosas, grandes obras de arte e inúmeras catástrofes.”

E tudo isto é narrado em cerca de 200 páginas!
E viva a literatura minimalista! 🎉
Venha o próximo!... 👍

[Maria Espadinha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Bite-Sized Chunks Review


Our TBR Pile is growing every second and we wish we had a third eye 👁 to read faster and faster (just for the record ... we have, but it doesn’t seem much interested in reading 😉)...
Jacob Field doesn’t give us a third eye, but... covered thousands years of history in less than 200 pages.

How about that?!... 😉👍

For the sake of our TBR Towers, I do hope more authors will find inspiration in this bite-sized chunks writing!!!

[The Humpo Show [ Richard ] · Rating 4 out of 5]

A readable and concise book that encompasses the histories of ancient civilisations all the way up to the modern European world, including Brexit. Jacob F. Field manages to cover thousands of years of history in an enjoyable and informative way, perfect for people who want an insight into every notable part of the continent of Europe.

Field divides the book up into six easily digestible chapters: Classical Antiquity (2600 BCE to 600 CE); Medieval (600-1500); Reform and Enlightenment (1500-1780); Age of Revolutions (1780-1914); the Wars (1914-45); and the Making of Contemporary Europe (1945 to present).

Having read The History of the World in Bite-Sized Chunks earlier in the year, I was easily persuaded to get this next installment as I try to fill in some of the gaps in my historical knowledge. In particularly, I was eager to learn more about the Medieval era as well as the periods of Enlightenment and Revolutions.

History of Europe is also interspersed with some case study-like focus on notable Europeans, including Socrates, Julius Caesar, Charlemagne, Joan of Arc, Napoleon and Albert Einstein. These were helpful because they were very short and sweet, so there’s not much information to remember when reading these passages.

The only trouble I had when reading this book is that the information doesn’t sink in due to the fact that I have consumed so much history in such a short amount of time. If you asked me anything about the Belgian Revolution, I couldn’t tell you a thing! I kept notes for when I read History of the World, which I took in order to help to retain the information, but I’ve yet to go back to the notes, so I can’t confirm whether note-taking is helpful or not yet.

I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about The Crusades, the Crimean War and the Eastern Bloc in the 1950s and 60s. I only had extremely basic knowledge about The Crusades and the Crimean War, but this book was extremely helpful in providing a succinct summary of both events, and these are two parts that I do remember most. The Eastern Bloc following the Second World War is something I knew nothing about, anything I did know would be guesswork. Field easily conveys the important things of note so that I now feel more confident about this part of European history. This point also leads into the 1989 Revolutions, post-Soviet Russia and the Yugoslav Wars – more areas where my knowledge was definitely lacking and has since been boosted by Field’s analysis.

Field’s creation is interesting and concise – perfect for someone who wants to learn more about the continent of Europe. There is also a thoughtful analysis of European integration and of the UK’s prolonged exit from the European Union.

[Kev Ruiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I really liked the bite-sized format of this book—it made it so easy to pick up and read at my own pace. I dipped in and out of it on my Kindle, squeezing in a few pages while waiting around, between fiction reads, and during short breaks. It’s the kind of book that works well that way, letting you absorb history in manageable chunks without feeling bogged down.

Covering thousands of years in a single book is no small task, but it does a great job of making it all clear and easy to follow. The major events and figures are well explained, and you get a good sense of how everything ties together. Naturally, some things are skimmed over, but that’s to be expected in such a broad overview. It’s a great jumping-off point, and I came away with a list of things I want to read more about.

A solid, engaging read and a great way to get a broad overview of European history without committing to a dense textbook. Would definitely recommend to anyone who wants to learn a bit more history in a way that fits into a busy life!

[Amy Marsden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good overview of European history. A bit vague in parts, but it is just bite sized chunks. Recommended to anyone who wants to know more about the history of Europe but doesn't really know what to start!

[Andy O'Connell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The "chunk" approach provides a great overview of the history of Europe; often key events should be told as a single story of 10, 20 or 30 years at a time, and this book does that. Rather than tell an entirely chronological story in which the reader needs to contemplate many nations and events at once, Field breaks the history of Europe into small sections relating to a particularly country, leader, war, social development or event. The next chunk may then start 25 years prior, but you gain an a better understanding in this way as to how Europe developed over the years. Contextual depth was sufficient to understand the basis of events, but I would liked to have seen a more balanced story told. The history of Attila the Hun covered a mere double page, whereas th attrition of the Cold War lasted some 30 pages, meaning my interest wained a bit towards the end.

[Diogo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uma leitura fabulosa e que mostra, de forma holística, como os diferentes países estão ligados. Torna-se igualmente interessante para compreender o que a história nos conta dos tempos atuais e de esperanças de um bom futuro.

[Dyako Kawa · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a concise depiction of historical and geopolitical changes that Europe has gone through. I really enjoyed the simple language although it was not detailed.

[Andrew Keesler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good if you want a SparkNotes summary of the last 6 millennia in Europe, which is what I wanted. Maybe this goes without saying, but this was dry. Also - why can’t we all just get along and not kill each other you know?

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eigenlijk 3,5. Kan het het boek niet kwalijk nemen dat het doet wat de titel zegt, maar er wordt in 200 paginas door duizenden jaren geschiedenis geracet wat nogal gehaast overkomt. Wel een goed boek om een algemeen overzicht te krijgen van de grote gebeurtenissen in onze Europese geschiedenis. Heeft me dan ook zeker enthousiast gemaakt om me met name verder te verdiepen in het Habsburgse rijk en het Pruisische rijk.

[Prundeanu Ciprian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad for a quick refresher course, you can go through the essential outline of European history in 3-4 hours.

[Joshua Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet. Covers all the main events in European history.

[Alain Audi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good reader’s digest on Europe’s evolution. Would recommend it to anyone looking to understand the high level progress of European history.

[Mohamed Asraf · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5. Felt like holding a book soaked in blood. Bloody wars from the start until the end. Never knew they went through alot of wars. Offers a succinct overview of European history, spanning from ancient civilizations to contemporary times.

Found interesting repeating patterns of history to modern times such as:
1) Austria-Hungary vs Serbia - India Pakistan
2) Spring of Nations - The Arab Spring

It echoes Mark Twains words, "History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes.

Many bite sized notable Europeans was mentioned such as Einstein, Julius Caesar, Karl Marx, Marrie Curie, and Lenin to name but a few. Europeans did learned to integrate through the hard way.

[Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this on clearance sale for £2.50 and wasn't expecting too much but was very surprised to find this was a great casual read!

It provides a quick flying tour of European history and is really successful in helping understand how big events that I've read about in the past fit in the overall timeline. Many key events are covered but doesn't get too bogged down on one event for too long. I found it particularly good at highlighting some points in history I'd like to read up on further too.

Highly Recommend as a quick read for history fans!

[Marko Kolobara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very generalized and sometimes simplified telling of European history. This book does well to cover a vast array of topics in short chunks, sometimes that comes at the expense of more details, but it still serves as a good surface level insight into European history.

[Kevin Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded to 4 stars for kindness

A decent book spanning from ancient Europe to modern day, quite an easy read.

Should be used more to see a period that interests you and to find a more in depth book about that topic.

[Diogo Miguel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gostei do livro, aborda toda a história de forma sintética e coesa e é uma boa forma de aprender sempre um pouco mais da história da Europa.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nifty little book that works as an excellent reference guide to the most important European historical events without the need to trawl through endless essays or Wikipedia.

[Anthony Buck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice idea, well realised.

[M S Vishwanath · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very short and concise history of Europe. Provider a good overview.

[Pedro Antunes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sucinto e ao mesmo tempo cheio de informação. Foi uma óptima leitura.

[Rory Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sprinting through history, the book zeros in on key events and significant people to give an overview of European events from pre-history until the modern day.

The achievement of books like this is to cover an enormously broad vista. Necessarily content must be left out, and so it is too easy to criticise these kinds of books for leaving out a favourite historical theme or historical character. Broadly speaking, the book's sacrifices of granularity to achieve its breadth were understandable and arguably reasonable.

One concerning exception might be the book's coverage of the Slave Trade. Yes space and brevity in a book of this nature meant that slavery had to be a short topic, but slavery is such a politically sensitive set of issues in the modern world that books need to be careful to cover it fairly. What we got was a quick summation of the evils of the (African) Atlantic slave trade (34%). Yes there were definitely many evils involved in that trade. But there were other stories of European slavery that also involved many evils. And some of those stories involved slavery into Africa.

For example Peter Nolasco (d.1256) founded the Mercedarians, which was a Religious Order designed to ransom, and buy back Christians who had been enslaved by Muslims in Spain or North Africa. There were many other individuals and movements doing similar in the middle ages, because piracy and enslavement into North Africa became a very serious problem in the Mediterranean.

Its disappointing that despite the amount of modern research on slavery, this book still gave an overly simplistic account of it.

Some of the book's transitions between ideas were also a little hurried. We hear for example that the rise of Macedon is an important factor when Sparta defeated Athens, but then the book went straight on to talk about the rise of ancient Rome, and we heard no more about Macedon (7%).

Towards the end of the book we also heard about European involvement in Colonies and colonisation. We heard about the United Kingdom divesting itself of its colonies and the military conflicts involved in the 1960s (75%). But strangely, there was no mention of the Falklands War in 1982, which some historians cite as one of the last vestiges of colonial conflict.

Overall, an easy to read historical summary, but some of the historical nuances were lost amidst the broad brush strokes.

[Socrate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Minoicii

Creta a fost centrul civilizației minoice, o cultură a Epocii Bronzului ce și-a luat numele de la Minos, rege mitic al Cretei, cel care avea un labirint în care sacrifica victime minotaurului, o creatură monstruoasă, jumătate om, jumătate taur. În mileniul III î.Hr. minoicii au început să făurească unelte și arme din bronz, precum și ceramică smălțuită sofisticată și bijuterii aurite. Au dezvoltat și un sistem de scriere hieroglifică (acum cunoscut ca „Linear A“) și au făcut negoț în întreaga zonă a Mării Mediterane, mai ales în sud, cu egiptenii. Începând cu 2000 î.Hr. minoicii au
construit un complex palațial la Knossos, în jurul căruia s-a dezvoltat primul oraș din Europa. Mai târziu, au construit alte complexe palațiale în Creta, la Phaistos, Zakros și Malia. Deși un cutremur de proporții a distrus orașul Knossos în 1720 î.Hr., un palat și mai mare și mai complex a fost reconstruit în locul respectiv în secolele ce au urmat. A fost folosit în scopuri administrative și ceremoniale, adăpostind și ateliere, reședințe și subsoluri cu rol de depozitare. Când complexul a fost dezgropat de arheologi în 1900, aceștia au descoperit pereți decorați cu fresce ample. Cu
tematică laică, dar și religioasă, aceste fresce înfățișau imagini naturaliste de animale, plante și oameni. Una dintre cele mai cunoscute înfățișează „săritul peste taur“, un ritual religios-atletic în care participanții apucau taurul de coarne încercând să sară peste el (o practică similară are loc în continuare în sud-vestul Franței). Până în secolul XVII î.Hr. populația din Knossos este posibil să fi ajuns la 100 000 de oameni.
Civilizația minoică și-a atins culmea influenței în seco­lul XVI î.Hr., când s-a extins spre Cipru și spre alte insule din Marea Egee, precum și spre zona Greciei continentale, acolo unde i-a influențat pe micenieni. În jurul anului 1500 î.Hr. civilizația minoică a intrat în declin. Una dintre cauze este posibil să fi fost un cutremur de amploare ce a avut loc în largul insulei Creta. Acesta i-a slăbit pe minoici și le-a permis micenienilor să cucerească Creta și să devină forța dominantă din regiune.
În 1400 î.Hr. un incendiu a distrus marele palat din Knossos; orașul a rămas locuit, dar a scăzut ca mărime și importanță.

[Liam Heron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid overall introduction to the more prevalent areas of European history, however due to this - intended as it may or may not be - vast swathes of information are left in the lurch. The brevity, also, leads to many statements that assert an idea without exemplification or clarity and as such would be worthless if you are looking for a pan-encompassing reference book.

However, as an introductory text, it is at least brief and covers a little of most things, and may encourage a beginner to further investigate its themes in an accessible fashion.

[Philip Larmett · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book does everything it says on the cover. It has some interesting vignettes on prominent Europeans, such as Joan of Arc, Einstein and Marie Curie, but Florence Nightingale and Isaac Newton were missing.
Its format is handy for dipping into. No need to read from front to back if you don't want to, just chose the part that takes your interest.
And then, put it on a bookshelf. A handy companion for teenagers and others to understand the part of the world we live in.

[Emma Dargue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good introduction to learning about Europe's history. The information is delivered in subtitled chunks that are easy to read and digest. Good for dipping in and out of.