"History writing at its glorious best."--The New York Times

"A triumphant success. [Blanning] brings knowledge, expertise, sound judgment and a colorful narrative style."--The Economist

The New York Times bestselling volume in the Penguin History of Europe series


Between the end of the Thirty Years' War and the Battle of Waterloo, Europe underwent an extraordinary transformatoin that saw five of the modern world's great revolutions--scientific, industrial, American, French, and romantic. In this much-admired addition to the monumental Penguin History of Europe series, Tim Blanning brilliantly investigates the forces that transformed Europe from a medieval society into a vigorous powerhose of the modern world. Blanning renders this vast subject immediate and absorbing by making fresh connections between the most mundane details of life and the major cultural, political, and technological transformations that birthed the modern age.
The Pursuit of Glory
List of Illustrations
Maps
1. Europe in the era of Louis XIV
2. Europe in the eighteenth century
3. Europe in 1809
4. Europe in 1815
5. The Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg Monarchy in the eighteenth century
Preface
Introduction

Part One: Life and Death

1. Communications
2. People
3. Trade and Manufacturing
4. Agriculture and the Rural World

Part Two: Power

5. Rulers and Their Elites
6. Reform and Revolution

Part Three: Religion and Culture

7. Religion and the Churches
8. Court and Country
9. Palaces and Gardens
10. The Culture of Feeling and the Culture of Reason

Part Four: War and Peace

11. From the Peace of Westphalia to the Peace of Nystad
12. From the Peace of Nystad to the French Revolutionary Wars
13. The Wars of the French Revolution and Napoleon

Conclusion
Suggested Reading
Index

Until his retirement in 2009, Tim Blanning was a professor of modern European history at the University of Cambridge, and he remains a fellow of Sidney Sussex College and of the British Academy. He is the general editor of The Oxford History of Modern Europe and The Short Oxford History of Europe. He is also the author of The Culture of Power and the Power of Culture, which won a prestigious German prize and was short-listed for the British Academy Book Prize, the New York Times bestseller The Pursuit of Glory, The Triumph of Music, and The Romantic Revolution. In 2000 he was awarded a Pilkington Prize for teaching by the University of Cambridge. View titles by Tim Blanning

About

"History writing at its glorious best."--The New York Times

"A triumphant success. [Blanning] brings knowledge, expertise, sound judgment and a colorful narrative style."--The Economist

The New York Times bestselling volume in the Penguin History of Europe series


Between the end of the Thirty Years' War and the Battle of Waterloo, Europe underwent an extraordinary transformatoin that saw five of the modern world's great revolutions--scientific, industrial, American, French, and romantic. In this much-admired addition to the monumental Penguin History of Europe series, Tim Blanning brilliantly investigates the forces that transformed Europe from a medieval society into a vigorous powerhose of the modern world. Blanning renders this vast subject immediate and absorbing by making fresh connections between the most mundane details of life and the major cultural, political, and technological transformations that birthed the modern age.

Table of Contents

The Pursuit of Glory
List of Illustrations
Maps
1. Europe in the era of Louis XIV
2. Europe in the eighteenth century
3. Europe in 1809
4. Europe in 1815
5. The Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg Monarchy in the eighteenth century
Preface
Introduction

Part One: Life and Death

1. Communications
2. People
3. Trade and Manufacturing
4. Agriculture and the Rural World

Part Two: Power

5. Rulers and Their Elites
6. Reform and Revolution

Part Three: Religion and Culture

7. Religion and the Churches
8. Court and Country
9. Palaces and Gardens
10. The Culture of Feeling and the Culture of Reason

Part Four: War and Peace

11. From the Peace of Westphalia to the Peace of Nystad
12. From the Peace of Nystad to the French Revolutionary Wars
13. The Wars of the French Revolution and Napoleon

Conclusion
Suggested Reading
Index

Author

Until his retirement in 2009, Tim Blanning was a professor of modern European history at the University of Cambridge, and he remains a fellow of Sidney Sussex College and of the British Academy. He is the general editor of The Oxford History of Modern Europe and The Short Oxford History of Europe. He is also the author of The Culture of Power and the Power of Culture, which won a prestigious German prize and was short-listed for the British Academy Book Prize, the New York Times bestseller The Pursuit of Glory, The Triumph of Music, and The Romantic Revolution. In 2000 he was awarded a Pilkington Prize for teaching by the University of Cambridge. View titles by Tim Blanning