The Eighteenth Century: Europe 1688-1815 (Short Oxford History of Europe)
Reviewed along side "The Nineteenth Century" by same author, "compendious, informed, instructive, readable and easy to handle....evoke thoughtful, colourful and lively essays...For scholars and specialists their most rewarding aspect is the way all contributions examine traditional and up-to-the-minut interpretation, pointing out interpretative virtues and shortcomings and providing perspectives that are the more satisfying for being tentative rather than totalitarian. Statements are backed by information, generalizations carry corroboration, statistics are soberly (and moderately)used, less for support than for illumination. Maps, chronological tables and suggestions for further reading also prove helpful...Tim Blanning and his colleagues have done justice to the fraught, fantastic times they have had to grapple with", Eugen Weber, TLS, 15th December 2000`An important and valuable contribution to the comparative understanding of Britain and Germany from 1750 to 1850.' Jorn Leonhard, Wadham College, Oxford`The contributions, which offer a wide range of new perspectives in detail generally based on original source material, allow a deeper insight into the advantages of comparative analysis, especially where the articles concentrate sustematically on both Britain and Germany.' Jorn Leonhard, Wadham College, Oxford`The illustration of the different meanings and ambiguities of contemporary key concepts of the period such as state, reform, revolution and parliament in Germany and Britain is clearly one of the most valuable outcomes of this book.  It is hoped that such a collection will inspire more comparisons on a European level of analysis.' Jorn Leonhard, Wadham College, OxfordImportant text for access to Europe on the eve of industrialization. Dr Tim Megarry, Senior Lecturuer in Sociology and Anthropology, University of Greenwich