Eugen Weber, Greatest Historian of Our Times

Eugen Weber was encyclopedic in his depiction of an era, a movement or a social trend, focusing more on the many facets of everyday life than on historical theories. History, he wrote in "Europe Since 1715," was "not just the epic of collective deeds, but the tissue of the times; not just what happened, but to whom and how; not just wars and politics, the doings of a relatively restricted group, but the way people lived - humbler and middling people, and the rich as well - their food, their housing, the warp and woof of their existence." - New York Times."There are books written and continue to be written that emphasizes that nearly the first half of the life of America concerns America depended on Britain. This is true of course but it also gives false impression; because on the one hand American cultural dependence on Europe in general and England in particular was not restricted to the colonial period but went much longer than that. And on the other hand it is possible to argue that the American colonies were pretty much politically independent from the very beginning. For the most part, the colonial period is a story of self governing colonies which were ignored by the mother country for decade after decade and then rather late in the day the mother country suddenly attempts to tighten things up to get some effective control over colonial affairs through administration and taxation. The attempt failed very much the attempt will fail if a parent tries to control an old child who had never known any discipline". - Eugen Weber"Historical experience is not a linear progression. It is rather a meander - a river whose waters you cannot step twice of course, but also one whose curves ever approach each other and overflow through knew unexpected terrains...In any case here we are at the end of the 20th century with a lot of people lonely in a Godless world - and now they are denied not only God but the solid substance of judgement and perception". - Eugen Weber