The Bottom Line
This is the single volume introduction to the eighteenth century, and an initial must read for anyone studying the period, whatever your specialist subject.
Pros
- Vast range of material
- Excellent detail
- Bibliography, maps and lists
Cons
- Any general history could always be larger
Description
- 594 pages including chronology, bibliography, lists of rulers and maps.
- Second edition, published by Palgrave
- ISBN: 0333773357
Guide Review - Eighteenth Century Europe by Jeremy Black
Over the last decade this book has become one of the key introductory texts to the period, simply because its vast thematic and geographical breadth, vivid style and excellent choices of material provides something for every reader. This second edition widens the scope further, as two new chapters cover Europe's relation to the world, and the topic of revolutions, while many other revisions have taken place. Black has received praise from many reviewers, because Eighteenth Century Europe is more than simply a textbook which teaches you about Europe from 1700 - 1800; rather, it is an entrancing - and suitably myth destroying - volume which recreates a historical period in the minds of modern readers.
