The Pursuit of Glory
The Five Revolutions that Made Modern Europe: 1648-1815

The Pursuit of Glory is not just the best book I've read in a while; it's also, due to its extraordinary length, the only book I've read in a while. I was inspired to pick it up by this almost excessively glowing NYT review, which turns out to be a very accurate description of it--so I'll try to men......more

First of all, please understand this book is not for the casual reader. I've read this book for the third time and I'm now just reviewing it. If it means anything to you, I really don't do much of re-watching movies and I certainly don't do much of re-reading of books, as they are so time consuming.......more

I'm sure it's incredibly difficult to write a book about European History covering a hundred and fifty years which is at all academically respectable; Mr Blanning has certainly done it. But the balancing of respectability with accessibility has come at great cost. First, what is surely the most biza......more