BootsnAll Travel Community

in planning my trip to europe, i feel like i should learn some about it's history to make the places i go and things i see a bit more meaningful. can anyone recommend a good book on euporean history for someone who knows little about it, that isn't too dry?

sue

A single book on European history? Eeks! That's a tough question and I'm a Librarian.

You might want to narrow it down to which countries you will be visiting. I'd recommend 1066 and All That by Sellar for a history of England. It's a bit Monty Pythonish

Libby - '1066 and all that'. I must have read that at least 15 years ago as a tadpole, and it was already an oldie that my Mom recommended. I guess there's some major benefits to being a librarian when you can access classics like that. :-)

I hate to see you go,
but I love to watch you leave.

That book was recommended to me by an English Prof of mine. I laughed myself silly.

Seriously though, if you want to learn alot of history about a number of countries you have a number of different choices. First, encyclopedias are often overlooked but have nice (read short) summaries of the major events in the history of most countries. Travel books are also an option. Most of the good ones include some of the more colourful characters and events.

Those are your best options if you aren't a lover of history books.

Honestly, I absolutely loved "From Dawn to Decadence: 1500 to the Present, 500 Years of Western Cultural Life." It was absolutely brilliant, and I was amazed how the author, Jacques Barzun, tied everything together. I will definitely read it again sometime.

Lynn