Modern Europe: Sources and Perspectives from History

This engaging collection of primary sources and selected fiction excerpts explores important events, figures, and themes in European history, from 1789 to the present.

Modern Europe offers four types of selections: memoirs of individuals who witnessed important historical events; excerpts from works of fiction; writings of influential figures and theorists; and significant historical documents. Primary source selections acquaint students with the writings and documents that helped shape modern European history, while the fiction selections bring historical events to the level of human life. The selections explore significant themes of this time period–modernization, social and political movements, the relationship between the individual and society–enhancing students' understanding of the historical events presented in course lectures and textbooks.

Both challenging and captivating, Modern Europe provides students with a glimpse of the emotions, ideologies, and mindsets that lie behind the facts and figures of history, allowing them to experience the past and to better understand it.