I'm looking for a historical overview of Europe from roughly 1800 - 1900 or later. Particularly interested in financial & economics, political, military, balance-of-power, types of government structure during this period, focusing primarily on England, France, Germany and Russia. This period transitions roughly from the end of the Napoleonic era to the time-frame prior to the first world war.
I've enjoyed Will Durant's History of Civilization series, which ends with the reign of Napoleon I in 1815 or so, and I'm trying to obtain a reading list from that period forward. There is a Penguin historical series now in development, but they don't anticipate coverage of this period until sometime in 2017.
Any suggestions from MFO history buffs will be much appreciated.
Comments
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by Phillippe Ariès (Author), Georges Duby (Author), Michelle Perrot (Editor), Arthur Goldhammer (Translator) Belknap Press, 1994
The nineteenth century was the golden age of private life, a time when the tentative self-consciousness of the Renaissance and earlier eras took recognizable form, and the supreme individual, with a political, scientific, and above all existential value, emerged. Volume IV of this award-winning series chronicles this development from the tumult of the French Revolution to the outbreak of World War I--a century and a quarter of rapid, ungovernable change culminating in a conflict that, at a stroke, altered life in the Western world.
Additionally, I've found The Oxford illustrated history of modern Europe also edited by Blanning at the Sonoma County Library near our weekend place. Oddly enough I couldn't scare up much at the SF library, but there's a branch a block away and I'll be going over there to see if they can help.
I'm going to have quite a nice little list thanks to all of you!
amazon.com/Transformation-World-History-Nineteenth-Century/dp/0691147450/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448424776&sr=8-1&keywords=the+transformation+of+the+world
nybooks.com/articles/archives/2015/may/07/osterhammel-how-we-got-where-we-are/
It is also extremely long. I haven't read it, but I'm curious to try. Then again, the list of books I want to read is also long.
"Which history book addresses memory and self-observation? What is space? What was the living standard of different countries at a specific time of history? What do cities say about the people of a certain era? What frontiers did people of a specific century explore? What international order existed? Why do we have to look at history only focusing on the most prosperous nations without looking at the conquered nations and how they perceived their conquerors? How did religion and race shape history? What was the GDP of different states at that time? What was the education system of different countries in the 19th century?"
I was particularly struck by that series of questions because that spread of focus was so brilliantly covered by Will and Ariel Durant in their "History of Civilization" series. Additionally, they looked at literature, art, music, architecture, science and philosophy, and just about anything else that defined Western European culture, all with a leavening of irony and humor as regards the human condition. They ran out of time unfortunately, and ended their series with Napoleon at 1815. Those eleven volumes, each of which is from 800 to 1100 pages, were constructed prior to the age of computers: all of the massive cross referencing was done entirely by hand. What a magnificent legacy!
I think that I see a Christmas present for myself with "The Transformation of the World". Thanks for that.
In an associated/former life, I was a book seller on the internet. Many of these books were historical reference books. I used the below linked sites for "my" reference work.
I am not aware that any of the below sites require a sign up account for a search function. Your searches will bring you to a list with all sellers noted with the first 3 sites listed below.
NOTE: to your benefit, book prices; including many from more than 100 years ago have seen dramatic price decreases since the market melt. Additionally, many books that have been in private/personal libraries have continued to find their way into the public arena for sale, as remaining family members have no interest in these books, after the death of the owner.
3 excellent book search sites:
http://www.abebooks.com/
http://www.bookfinder4u.com/
http://www.bookfinder.com/#searchform
A book site I have not used very much, but is highly regarded; The Gutenberg Project:
https://www.gutenberg.org/
Additionally: my example set in the Google book search. A possible added benefit of the Google book search site is that one may enter the name of person or location of "x" and find a list of referenced "mentions" in a book. This, of course; may lead you to book titles that you were not previously aware. Over the past several years, Google has scanned many historical books from libraries, in some cases; being the only known copy of that book available to the public. This "electronic book image" would have to be read "online" at Google books. NOTE: Google books is more limited than when this project was first started. Some folks apparently were "upset" that these books were allowed into the public domain without monetary benefit. Although the copyright has long expired............
https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&hl=en&q=michigan+copper+mines
I'll update this, if something else pops into my head.
Lastly, the Durant books you mentioned remain, IMO; as likely the best reference to the history period in Europe they wrote about. 'Course, not unlike today; so many aspects of history were always taking place at any given time all around the globe. I don't have any special book recommendations at this time related to your original query.
UPDATE: Other thoughts, now that some of my chores are finished: During 1900-1910 finds many events; and others likely can add much more. Russia and Japan were at war around 1904-1906. Mainland China was shaping what would become a most important outcome for Asia/global. The Nationalism Chinese government and the man who would become Chairman Mao and his followers were having a civil war too; while at the same time doing battle with Japan who occupied many Asian territories from 1890 or so, until their WW2 surrender. Japan had occupied Taiwan from 1895-1945, to where the Nationalism Chinese government fled after their defeat by Mao and company. The British in particular and some U.S. money folks became involved with the discovered "oil" in Iran and related areas and began the great western move to control this area and the oil. Russia was conflicted in so many areas, and that change came about.
Sometimes I almost believe in the alignment of the stars, as event periods come in chunks.....
What are the stars "saying" about the events since the war in Iraq from about 1990 to date?
A reader of the "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" would find earth to be a very violent place to observe.
Knowing you'll enjoy your time this holiday period.
Take care,
Catch
She might also be the reason we're all here today. Her companion to Proud Tower was The Guns of August (1962), a book which chronicles that stubborn, stiff-necked intransigence and arrogance on both sides which led to the outbreak of The Great War in August, 1914. It was the war that no one thought could happen and it came at a toll that no one could have imagined: across all combatants, 57% of an entire generation of young men - that is, 57% of those mobilized - were killed, wounded and missing. In the worst hit countries, the casualties ranged from 67% (Germany) to 75% (in France and Russia) to 90% (Austria-Hungary).
Tuchman's book was fresh in John Kennedy's mind in October 1962 when the US faced the threat of Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba. Kennedy's advisers were furious, urged a immediate mobilization and a direct challenge to the Soviets: withdraw or face a nuclear counter-strike. Michael Dobbs, author of One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War (2008) wrote: Kennedy refused the counsel of war and worked, quietly and behind the scenes, to find a way to defuse the crisis. In the end, the Soviet navy reversed course and returned home in exchange for a US promise (apparently not fulfilled) to remove our own tactical nuclear weapons from Turkey. When asked why he chose the soft path, Kennedy is said to have responded, "I wanted to be sure that no future historian had the need to write The Missiles of October."
For what interest that holds,
David
Also, I have liked any books treating that triumvirate of unsettling thoughts, Darwin, Marx and Freud. who served to stand a confident self-absorbed populace on its head.
You especially might find the Hayden White, Coates et alia surveys interesting.
Regards to all-
OJ