In this narrative of the history of Europe from the Westphalian peace settlement, until the battle of Waterloo, Tim Blanning manages to put in almost everything. He goes threw the state and development in every field conceivable such as agriculture, trade, religion, rulers, palaces, science, the Enlightenment, art (etc.) and then finishes the book of with a more chronological part describing the wars during the period. This specific era in history and the changes during it are many times forgotten. But it was during these years that the kings manage to wrestle the power out of the hands of the nobility, thereby making the nations more powerful. In the beginning of this era anyone was easily burned as a witch whereas in the end of this period any accuser would probably end up in jail themselves. The world saw also the birth of the artist that wasn’t solemnly confined to wishes of a royal patron, but could instead make their living and sometimes fortune by selling their service to an increasing public. The book is interesting, witty and extremely well written. Mr Blanning seems to bee the kind of historian that wants the reader to start thinking. He gives other perspectives on things that are usually seen as matter of facts. Was for example the Holy Roman Empire such a preposterous creation if it managed to stay a float for a thousand years? Was the Industrial Revolution really a “revolution” or is that just a label attached retrospectively to an evolutionary process? It did wonders for this reader who more than occasionally had to pause to grasp the extent of what is written on the pages of this book. At the same time Tim Blanning manages to explain why the Bitts came out on top at the end after all the wars against France, and why this historical period marked the end of the glorious days for Spain, the Ottoman Empire and Sweden, and the beginning for Prussia and Russia.
What this book doesn’t give you is a total chronological order in what happened in what country, or simplified explanations over broad areas as materialist historians sometimes do. In my opinion that would have been impossible with the dept and extent of what Tim Blanning manages to cover. But he could have presented his references in other ways than just in the running text.
One of the best history books I have ever had the pleasure of reading. A five out of five… ( )

I was looking forward to cracking this open as it covers a period that informal readers of history (like me) don't have a lot of familiarity with. Unfortunately, while adequate, the book did not dazzle me as I had hoped.

Partly, I think, this is a problem of scope. A book that covers the period from the end of the Reformation to the end of the Napoleonic Wars has an awful lot of ground to cover - the Industrial Revolution, the Enlightenment, the effects of the American and French revolutions, etc. Furthermore, that territory differs vastly over the course of two centuries.

But the book also has a tendency to rely too heavily on lists of information or names when addressing a specific point, and the organization of the book fails to provide a reader with an easy to follow framework to help understand the reams of information being thrown out. It would have helped somewhat, I think, to put the section on war and peace, which follows a straightforward chronology, at the beginning of the book instead of the end, to give the reader a reference point for the other chapters.

In the end, the book adequately covers its subject, but I was hoping for much more. ( )