The History of Europe in Bite-sized Chunks

An accessible and succinct account of the story of Europe from its ancient foundations to the twenty-first century, The History of Europe in Bite-sized Chunks details the events, personalities, ideas and disasters that have shaped the European continent.

The book is broken down into six easily digestible chapters: Classical Antiquity (2600 BCE to 600 CE); Medieval (600-1500); Reform and Enlightenment (1500-1780); Age of Revolutions (1780-1914); the Wars (1914-45); and the Making of Contemporary Europe (1945 to present).

It begins with the first ancient culture to emerge in Europe: the Minoans. It then proceeds chronologically to the present day, taking in not just significant historical events but also overarching social, technological and cultural trends and their impact.

Throughout the book there are mini-biographies of notable individuals (such as Julius Caesar, Catherine the Great and Napoleon Bonaparte) who have been most significant in European history. It is also packed with amazing facts, details and maps that will give the reader a vivid understanding of Europe’s past.

Dr. Jacob F. Field is a historian and writer who was a contributor to 1001 Historic Sites and 1001 Battles. He is the author of One Bloody Thing After Another: The World's Gruesome History, and We Shall Fight on the Beaches: The Speeches That Inspired History, both published by Michael O'Mara Books.

He studied for his undergraduate degree at the University of Oxford, and then moved to Newcastle University for his PhD, where he completed a thesis on the Great Fire of London. He then worked as a research associate at the University of Cambridge.

CONTENTS

list of maps 8

introduction 9

CHAPTER ONE: First Empires and Civilizations 3500 bc–800
bc: Middle East and Africa 11–20: Sumeria 11; Ancient
Egypt: the Old Kingdom 12; Ancient Egypt: the Middle and
New Kingdoms 13; Babylonia 14; Hittite Empire 16; Assyria 18;
Phoenicia 19 Far East 20–3: Indus Civilization 20; The Vedic
Age and Hinduism 21; Early Chinese Civilization 22 Europe
23–6: Minoan Civilization 23; Mycenaean Civilization 25 The
Americas 26–7: Olmec and Chavín Civilizations 26

CHAPTER TWO: The Ancient World 800 bc–ad 450: Middle
East and Africa 28–36: The Achaemenian Empire 28; The
Parthian Empire 29; The Sāssānid Empire 30; The Hebrews
and their ‘One True God’ 31; The Birth of Christianity 33; The
Kingdom of Kush 34; Carthaginian Era 35 Far East 36–41:
Buddhism 36; The Maurya and Gupta Empire and the Golden Age
of India 38; The Qin and Han Dynasties of China, and Confucius
40 Europe 41–8: The Etruscans and the Founding of Rome 41;
Ancient Greece and the Birth of Democracy 42; Alexander the
Great and the Hellenistic Period 44; The Roman Republic 45; The
Roman Empire 46; The Celts 47 The Americas 49–50: Peruvian
Cultures 49; Other Cultures in the Americas 50

CHAPTER THREE: The Middle Ages ad 450–1066: Middle
East and Africa 51–5: Aksum, the Ghana Empire and the
Migration of the Bantu 51; The Birth of Islam 52; The Abbāsid
Caliphate 53; The Fātimid Caliphate 54 Far East 56–9: The
Golden Age of China 56; The Taika Reforms in Japan 57; The
Ghaznavid Empire 58 Europe 59–69: The Byzantine Empire
59; Barbarian Migrations 60; The Growth of Christianity 61;
The Frankish Empire and Charlemagne 64; The Vikings 65; The Slavs
and Magyars 66; The Great Schism 68 The Americas 69–73:
The Mexican City of Teotihuacán and the Empires of Huari and
Tiahuanaco 69; The Maya 70; Mayan Culture 71; The Toltec 72

CHAPTER FOUR: World on the Move 1050–1700: Middle
East and Africa 74–84: The Islamic Almoravid and Almohad
Empires 74; The Mali and Songhai Empires of West Africa 75;
West African Kingdoms, Great Zimbabwe and the Swahili Coast
76; Portuguese Exploration and the Advent of the Atlantic Slave
Trade 77; The Seljuk Turks 78; The Crusades 79; The Rise of the
Ottoman Empire 81; The Ottoman Empire: Revival and Decline
82; The Safavid Empire of Persia 83 Far East 85–93: A Unified
Japan 85; The Mongol Empire 86; The Timurid Dynasty 88; The
Black Death 90; The Ming Dynasty in China 91; The Mughal
Empire in India, and Sikhism 92 Europe 93–102: Feudalism
and the Norman Conquests 93; The Growth of Commerce 95;
The Hundred Years War 96; The Renaissance 97; The Protestant
Reformation and Counter-Reformation 98; European Exploration
and Trading Empires 100; Absolute Monarchy: Charles I and
Louis XIV 101 The Americas 102–8: Aztecs 102; The Inca 104;
The Conquistadores 105; New France 106; European Settlements
in North America 107 Oceania 109–10: European Discoveries of
the Pacific Lands 109

CHAPTER FIVE: Revolution and European Imperialism
1700–1900: Middle East and Africa 111–18: The Oyo and
Ashanti Empires 111; Europeans Explore the African Interior
112; The Slave Trade and Abolition 113; The Scramble for Africa
114; Southern Africa 116; Nadir Shah Rules Persia 117 Far East
118–24: The Apogee of Manchu China 118; The British in India
119; The Opium Wars and Taiping Rebellion in China 121; The
Meiji Restoration in Japan 123 Europe 124–36: The Rise of Russia
124; The Wars of the 1700s and the Emergence of Prussia 125;
The Age of Enlightenment 126; The French Revolution 128; The
French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and Vienna Settlement
129; The Industrial Revolution 130; Industrial Society, Marxism
and Revolt 132; ‘The Eastern Question’ and the Crimean War
133; Population Migrations 134; The Rise of the Nation State 135
The Americas 136–41: The American Revolution 136; Spanish-
American Wars of Independence 138; North American Expansion
and ‘Manifest Destiny’ 139; The American Civil War 140 Oceania
142–4: Captain James Cook and European Settlement of Australia
142; European Colonization of New Zealand and the Pacific
Islands 143

CHAPTER SIX: A New World Order 1900–45: Middle East
and Africa 145–9: Resistance to European Colonial Rule 145;
The Union of South Africa and the Ethiopian Empire 146; The
Dissolution of the Ottoman Empire 147; Palestine and the Zionist
Movement 148 Far East 150–4: The Boxer Rebellion and the
Chinese Revolution of 1911 150; The Rise of Japan 151; The
Chinese Civil War 152; Towards India’s Independence 153 Europe
155–74: The Triple Entente and the Arms Race 155; The Outbreak
of the First World War and the Western Front 156; The Eastern
Front and Other Theatres of War 157; The End of the Great War
160; The Spanish Flu 161; Women’s Suffrage 162; The Russian
Revolutions and the Rise of the Soviet Union 163; Mussolini and
the Rise of Italian Fascism 165; Hitler and Nazi Germany 166;
The Spanish Civil War 167; The Second World War 168; The
Conclusion of the Second World War 170; Victory in Japan and the
Holocaust 171 The Americas 174–6: The Roaring Twenties, the
Great Depression and Roosevelt’s New Deal 174; Latin-American
Developments 175 Oceania 177–8: The Commonwealth of
Australia and the Dominion of New Zealand 177

bibliography 179

index 180