The Complete Idiot's Guide to European History

Book excerpt: The history of modern Europe isn't simply the story of a bunch of dead white men who ruled most of the world from the dawn of a new age - the Renaissance - that brought light to the Dark Ages through to the chaotic last gasp of communism and the dawn of yet another new age - the European Union. Rather, it's an epic involving the cultural, economic, political, and social developments that played fundamental roles, for better or for worse, in the life we live today. Without an understanding of events and personalities in Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain, France, Britain, Russia, Poland, and other lands, it's impossible to truly appreciate the development of contemporary institutions, the role of continuity and change in present-day society and politics, and the evolution of current forms of artistic and intellectual expressions.