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"Conservational and erudite."—Wall Street Journal
A renowned Pulitzer Prize–winning historian recounts the dramatic tale of modern Europe’s ascent.In The Mighty Continent: A Candid History of Modern Europe, Walter McDougall, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania, provides readers with a sweeping historical narrative that takes in the political, economic, social, intellectual, and cultural developments in the major European nations from the fifteenth to the twenty-first century.
Along the way, McDougall provides new insights on and interpretations of the Renaissance, the Protestant and Catholic Reformations, the Age of Exploration, the Scientific, French, and Industrial Revolutions, the sources of modernism, the origins of World War I, the rise of totalitarianism, the advance of the European Union, the collapse of communism, and much else.
Comprehensive yet compact, objective yet unabashed, attuned to European failings yet refreshingly free from cloying moralism, The Mighty Continent is history as it used to be: exciting, uplifting, ironic, not infrequently tragic—and, above all, fair to the figures who made modern Europe so world-shakingly powerful and inescapably influential.
“Condenses a grand historical narrative into a conversational and erudite survey. . . . As with many of the hard truths in Mr. McDougall’s survey, Europe’s past carries implications for America’s future.”—Wall Street Journal
“The Mighty Continent is a welcome and worthy contribution in the important work of restoring Western Civilization. . . . One final note about the book that can’t be overlooked: its physical design. Creed & Culture is presenting itself as a serious publisher publishing important books, and it rightly recognizes that a book’s design is vital toward achieving that goal. The Mighty Continent comes in cloth-bound hardcover, and just holding it makes you take it seriously. In an age of ebooks and cheaply printed paperbacks, it’s nice to see a publisher realize that our physical interaction with a book matters. . . . I highly commend Creed & Culture for swimming against the publishing trend in this regard.”—Crisis Magazine
“Written with clarity, verve, and wit, The Mighty Continent is the triumphant capstone of a learned scholar's brilliant career. In a sweeping and compulsively readable narrative, Walter McDougall invests the story of Europe's past with freshness, originality, and profound insights. History doesn't get any better than this.”—Andrew Bacevich, Professor Emeritus of History and International Relations, Boston University
“An important and fascinating book about European intellectual, political, and economic history—and also a commentary on the state of the West today—The Mighty Continent is a Gibbonesque tale about why and how countries and civilizations rise, reform, change, evolve, and fall. Full of stories and surprises, this is truly a book to be savored, to be read and re-read, chapter by stand-alone chapter.”—David Eisenhower, author, Going Home to Glory: A Memoir of Life with Dwight Eisenhower, 1961–1969
“If I had my druthers, this erudite book, written with a keen eye for the telling detail, would be required reading for every official of the European Union (not to mention every British parliamentarian and senior civil servant). They might come to understand that many of Europe's current troubles derive from an ignorance of, or disdain for, those three historical pillars of Western civilization: Greek philosophy, biblical religion, and Roman law—a heritage of which Americans badly need reminding, too.”—George Weigel, Distinguished Senior Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center
“Walter McDougall renders here a throwback to the grand narrative history of old, full of meaning and human insight and devoid of the postmodern cant and woke sensibilities that now dominate academic scholarship. This book chronicles Europe’s remarkable rise in broad sweeps of descriptive prose enlivened throughout by myriad telling details. For lovers of history, The Mighty Continent will be as enticing as it is enlightening.”—Robert Merry, author, Decade of Disunion: How Massachusetts and South Carolina Led the Way to Civil War
Chapter 1: The Classical Origins of European Civilization
Chapter 2: The Biblical Origins of European Civilization
Chapter 3: Faith Based on Reason: The Medieval Millennium
Chapter 4: Renaissance! Humanism and the Classical Revival
Chapter 5: “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”: The Protestant Reformation
Chapter 6: “Set All Aflame!” The Catholic Reformation
Chapter 7: Spices, Specie, and Souls: Europe Goes Global
Chapter 8: Two Cardinals and a Sun King: Absolutism in France
Chapter 9: Parliaments Triumphant; Absolutism Thwarted in England
Chapter 10: To Probe the Mind of God: The Scientific Revolution
Chapter 11: Soldiers, Serfs, Icons, and Axes: The Rise of Prussia and Russia
Chapter 12: Reason Based on Faith: The Competing Enlightenments
Chapter 13: Competition for Empire: Britannia Rules the Waves
Chapter 14: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity Betrayed: The French Revolution
Chapter 15: A World Restored: The Birth of Conservatism and Liberalism
Chapter 16: Machines in the Garden: Four Industrial Revolutions
Chapter 17: 1848 and After: Romantic Revolutions and Realistic Reforms
Chapter 18: “Nothing to Lose but Your Chains”: The Rise of Socialism
Chapter 19: Fluttered Folk and Wild: Europe’s New Imperialism
Chapter 20: The Snake That Ate Its Tail: The Culture of Modernity
Chapter 21: “Human, All Too Human”: The Origins of a World War
Chapter 22: Storm of Steel: The Traumas of War and Peace
Chapter 23: Class War: Marxism-Leninism Captures Russia
Chapter 24: Race War: Fascism and Nazism Capture Italy and Germany
Chapter 25: Years the Locust Hath Eaten: The Great Depression
Chapter 26: Descent into Hell: World War II and Its Holocausts
Chapter 27: Echternach Dance: The Cold War and the Revival of Europe
Chapter 28: Be Not Proud, Be Not Ashamed: In Defense of the West
Acknowledgments
Index