William L. Langer (1896–1977)

I looked long and hard for broad and basic 1848 histories and found this one for a buck at a used bookstore. Worth every penny! Good scale and detail, a nice range of themes, a solid older biblio, and just the right amount of polemic. Now my standard go-to book for basic facts about this period.

I bought this beat-up local reprint at Chin Shan Books in Taipei in 1978 and couldn't stop reading it: I'd never seen history laid out like that, with every region in every period. Finally got the classy 6th ed. (2001), but I still keep this heavily annotated copy by my desk.

The author, a hovered historian who taught modern languages at a New England boarding school enlisted in November 1917 in the US Army as part of the American expeditionary force in World War I. The book provides a well written, concise account of his particular units service in two critical battles at the end of World War I. Also a note about the quality of the book itself. It is a pleasure to read a book with high-quality paper, generous margins and bold and generous font. Created by Borzoi show more books, a Dickson of Knopf Publishers show less

4451 Political and Social Upheaval,1832-18553, by William L. Langer (read 21 Jun 2008) I finished this magisterial book today, June 21, 2008. I am tremendously impressed by the thoroughness with which Langer covers the period. This is a volume in the series "The Rise of Modern Europe" which he edited, and is the only volume in the series which he himself authored.. There are 18 volumes in the series, and this is the 5th one I have read. Not only are the political and economic events of the show more period fully covered, but the chapters on Literature and The Arts are a joy to read, since Langer was a historian who knew things about those subjects also. The period covers the momentous year of 1848 and after reading the chapters thereon I have a renewed interest in that important year. This is a great book, and I wish I had read it when it was published in 1969. Now the references and bibliographical essay are of course somewhat dated--but that surely isn't Langer's fault. [He died 26 Dec 1977.] show less