by Tony Judt (2005)
The magisterial history of European reconstruction from the smoldering devastation of 1945 through the Cold War, the collapse of Soviet communism, and the emergence of the European Union.
Christopher Clark
A masterwork of diplomatic history detailing how the great European powers, blind to the catastrophic consequences of their actions, stumbled into the devastating abyss of World War I in the summer of 1914.
Bill Bryson
Bill Bryson retraces the European backpacking trip of his youth, traveling by train from the northern tip of Norway down through Amsterdam, Florence, and Istanbul with trademark sharp wit and historical observation.
William L. Shirer
William L. Shirer’s definitive, National Book Award-winning masterpiece on Nazi Germany, chronicling Hitler’s rise from Munich beer halls to the devastation of Europe and ultimate collapse of the Third Reich.
Barbara W. Tuchman
Barbara Tuchman vividly reconstructs the disastrous fourteenth century through the life of French nobleman Enguerrand de Coucy VII, amidst the Black Death, the Hundred Years’ War, and the collapse of feudal society.