Between the years 1815 and 1945, Europe achieved unrivaled global dominance, only to see it shattered by two world wars. This frenetic rise and fall was attended by immense societal change. In 1815, Europe remained largely agricultural and dependent upon horsepower. By 1945, the power of the atom had been unleashed. Two industrial revolutions occurred in the interim-the first founded upon coal, iron and steam, the second upon oil, steel, electricity and internal combustion. The implications for humanity were profound. This concise yet comprehensive study is divided into three sections. The first documents the rise of the modern nation-state, the second chronicles the expansion of empire and the rush towards imperialism, while the third section details the cataclysmic world wars that destabilized the continent and bent nations towards totalitarianism. By tracing the events and undercurrents that shaped a vital period in European history, this work offers trenchant insights for the lay reader and the student of history alike.

The collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the late 5th century A.D. marked the disintegration of order and security in Europe. It would be 12 centuries of trial and error before a successor political system - the nation-state - emerged to fill the void. The Eastern Roman Empire survived for a thousand years after the Western Empire's fall, shielding the West against the encroachment of militant Islam. During the same millennium, the Catholic Church unsuccessfully attempted to resurrect a universal empire in the West. During the period of the Renaissance, Reformation and Thirty Years' War, the nation-state arose as the successor to Rome. This is the story of those 1,200 years, an era that transformed the Western outlook from one bound to faith amidst chaos to one armed with reason and a belief in progress.

This study offers a concise survey of Western Civilisation from the Stone Age through the fall of the last Western Roman Emperor in AD 476. Three sections each chronicle a critical epoch in human history. Section I encompasses man's ascent from barbarism to civilisation in the Ancient Near East; Section II witnesses the development of Western Civilisation in Ancient Greece; and Section III catalogues the failed attempt to build the West's first ""nation-state"" in Ancient Rome. The focus of each section is on political and military history, but each concludes with a segment which concentrates on the cultural and scientific achievements of the era under study. Human foibles are abundantly portrayed but so too is the ascent of humankind. Scholarly and comprehensive in content, lively and informal in tone, The Ancient Near East, Greece and Rome: A Brief History will serve as a useful resource for college students and general readers alike.

This study offers a concise yet comprehensive account of Israel's history as told through the lives of nine of its leading citizens and founders. Each succeeding chapter chronicles a critical epoch in the Israeli saga and catalogs the impact made on that epoch by one of nine leading protagonists--Theodor Herzl, Chaim Weizmann, David Ben-Gurion, Abba Eban, Moshe Dayan, Golda Meir, Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin, and Ariel Sharon. The result is a narrative that traces events from the genesis of modern political Zionism in the late 19th century to the present. A tapestry of history, biography and myth deconstruction, this volume provides a distinctive introduction to a nation that--whether it inspires pride or incites passions--never ceases to fascinate.

The 1648 Treaty of Westphalia marked the emergence of the nation-state as the dominant political entity in Europe. This book traces the development of the nation-state from its infancy as a virtual dynastic possession, through its incarnation as the embodiment of sovereign popular will. Three sections chronicle the critical epochs of this transformation, beginning with the belief in the "divine right" of monarchical rule and ending with the concept that the people, not their leaders, are the heart of a nation-an enduring political ideal that remains the basis of the modern the nation-state.