Europe

“Beaton puts a modern spin on the traditional Plato-to-Nato narrative, retelling 2,500 years of European history not as a triumphant march of progress towards the EU’s sunlit uplands but as a set of recurring tensions that remain stubbornly unresolved.”

“In lucid prose, uncluttered with superfluous dates or muddling names, free of ideological bias or bugbears, scrupulously annotated and richly informed, Europe: A New History moves sure-footedly across 2,500 years.”—The Telegraph (UK)

“Herculean in its ambition.”—The Times (UK)

“Beaton skilfully harts his way through the twists and turns of Europe’s last 250 years of political upheaval without losing sight of the questions of division and unity that have defined them. … This is a vitally timely book.”

“A great book.”—History Today

“Beaton’s book is an elegant and useful work of synthesis, one that rewards the reader’s attention.”

“The author, a specialist in ancient history, is at his best giving a succinct history of Greece and Rome [...and] also skillfully weaves into the history of events some formative moments of Europe's intellectual history.”

“A vividly insightful history of an ever-evolving continent.”—Kirkus

“A magisterial history, written with great panache, that is both enlightening and deeply readable. A true tour de force.”—Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads

“Europe is big history at its best. In this captivating romp across twenty-five centuries, from the Battle of Marathon to Putin’s war on Ukraine, Roderick Beaton offers inspiring and surprising answers to one of the great questions of our age: What is Europe?”—Ian Morris, author of Why the West Rules—for Now