The European Experience: A Multi-Perspective History of Modern Europe, 1500–2000

Reviewed by Averill Earls, Associate Professor of History, St. Olaf College on 3/23/26

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

Generally this textbook clearly seeks to cover a wide range of topics in a fairly concise format.

For a text that so carefully identifies the national origin of every individual it mentions (ie French scientists XYZ and Bavarian painter ABC and Italian welder HIJ), there are almost no specific women identified in this text. Women (as a general category of people) are discussed most in the demographics and family chapters, where the authors point to women's fertility rates and marriage ages. But of all the politicians, philosophers, scientists, writers, and artists discussed in the text, the number of specific women can be counted on two hands: Hannah Arendt, Elizabeth I, Elizabeth of Russia, George Eliot, Olympe de Gouges, Anne-Catherine Helvétius, Isabella I, Isabella II, Maria Teresa, Harriet Taylor Mill, Anna Maria van Schurman, and Margaret Thatcher. Compared with literally hundreds of men who are named and discussed throughout the text. In many ways this textbook replicates the patriarchal structures that it barely covers in the text. (Paternalism and patriotism are discussed throughout the text, but patriarchy is not at all.) Similarly, sexuality/sex are discussed in the Household and Family chapter, but really only in the "Modern" and "Contemporary" sections, which a reader might take to mean that same-sex desiring or gender transgressing people did not exist before 1800. The segregating of these issues and experiences to these chapters too suggests that sex and gender were not essential to understanding and experiencing every one of the themes the book tackles.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

I found the periodization structure of each thematic chapter to be confusing and again, missing a change to provide nuance and complication to an organizational structure that historians have invented. The early modern/modern/contemporary sections of each chapter presume first that "modern" is something simple to define or to apply across the histories of the different regions of "Europe". It doesn't make a lot of space for discussion of continuity - brokering from the start instead an emphasis on change over time.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

I would have liked to see updates to bring the "Contemporary" up to 2020 at least.

Clarity rating: 5

Clearly written, sections aren't too long.

Consistency rating: 5

Very consistent - almost too much so. The Thematic chapters are broken into periodized sections (Early Modern, Modern, Contemporary) - this may make teaching a chronological course with this textbook challenging.

Modularity rating: 2

I wouldn't see this as being useful in a European survey unless the course was designed explicitly to be thematic (and even then there are 29 chapters, each with a subheading for one of the three periodizations, which would not divide very equally across a regular 12-16 week term.) Because the subheadings are already divided to emphasize periodization, it doesn't necessarily make sense to have it broken up thematically. For a thematically-organized course, I would have preferred chapters that cover the entirety of the theme in a single chapter, 1500-2000, which would then be able to discuss both continuity and change over time. A textbook organized chronologically, perhaps with subheadings that address a wide range of themes and that could then be modularized to fit the goals for a particular unit in a course, would be more useful. Still, there are sections of this that I will be adopting for my own Europe since 1492 course.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

Made sense, though as highlighted elsewhere, may not be the most useful organization.

Interface rating: 5

Simple enough to navigate. Would have benefited from a great deal more images!

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

None that I saw.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

In making the case for the roots of a "European" identity, the authors slip into Euro-centric language at times, referring for example to the Berbers and the naval mujahideen as the "Barbary Pirates" in 1.1.2 - without complicating that framework, and referring to the states of Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli, and the Sultanate of Morocco as "Africa’s West-Mediterranean coast". I found their discussion of "Christendom" as both a defining feature of medieval and early modern conceptualizations of "Europe" (even if "Europe" wasn't a term that many people actually used before the "Republic of Letters") in need of greater nuance. In addition to Christianity's spread via Spanish and Portuguese colonialism, Christianity thrived throughout east Africa, western Asia, etc long before colonialism brought the Protestant iteration in the 19th century. And the emphasis on Christendom too was undermined within the political boundaries the authors attempt to draw with this text by the continued practice of traditional and pagan religions, and of course Jews, Muslims, Zoroastrians, etc - all kinds of faiths persisted, despite Christianity's abhorrent persecution. Overall this is a fascinating text, and I appreciate the effort to engage in the conversation of "What is Europe" in a textbook, but still wanted to see greater space for students/readers to decide, at the end, that there is no definitive answer.

The opening chapters rely a great deal on visual evidence - but only include two images, neither placed in a way that would allow the reader to engage them in meaningful ways connected to the text. Particularly when discussing the different maps, it would be immensely useful from a teaching point of view to have those maps included. I appreciated the topics covered in "Cultural Encounters" (sports/leisure, art, memory), though I was a bit disappointed to find those separated out from discussions of politics, family, identity, etc. In largely excluding Britain from this conceptualization of Europe (or at least, excluding British examples), it is certainly refreshing to see subsections focusing on Russia, East Central countries, Nordic countries, and southern Europe. I wondered though if in decentering Anglo narrativization of "Europe" from 1500-2000, what is lost here? For example, "Empire and Colonialism" is a single chapter - a fascinating chapter, with an emphasis on the land empire of Russia and the sea empires of the Dutch and Spanish/Portuguese - though of course colonialism and domination are certainly central to most areas of "European" history. Despite these potential downfalls, I look forward to adopting sections of this text for my own Europe since 1492 course.

Reviewed by Mark Norris, Professor of History, Grace College on 12/30/23

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

"The European Experience: A Multi-Perspective History of Modern Europe, 1500-2000," offers an impressively expansive, multi-focused, and layered look at modern Europe. In its nearly one thousand pages, it includes scholarship from almost a hundred historians from seventeen European universities and research organizations and provides unparalleled depth and diversity of perspectives for a work of its kind (the authors refer to this as a "handbook"). Helpful discussion questions, as well as suggested readings, are to be found at the end of each of its many sections. The authors mention that in any work of this type, there will be incompleteness. They refer to the picture on the cover of "The European Experience," which is of a classical sculpture of an angel that is missing her head. Their point in this visual display is that history is never complete. This work is to help students ask what other voices and perspectives would help us to understand the flow of history and thus generate interesting multi-perspective discussions. The index is also comprehensive and helpful.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The work is accurate and error-free. The impressive number of contributing scholars ensures its multi-perspective, and therefore unbiased, approach.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The authors refer to their pedagogical approach as "multi-perspectivity" and define this as using different perspectives "to evaluate historical events and processes." This methodology will ensure that this work will not become quickly outdated. Like a lot of survey textbooks, the time frame may be added to by lengthening the concluding sections.

Clarity rating: 4

The authors state that this is intended for BA history undergraduates in international classrooms. They also make it clear that they consulted groups of international students to give critical feedback ",,, and whenever this representative audience had the feeling that the scope, content, or structure of this handbook did not serve its purpose, we went back to the drawing board...." This helped release the work from overly technical technology and clarified the flow of writing. The number of sections and subsections, though they make sense theoretically, do hinder the flow of the text at times.

Consistency rating: 5

Internal consistency is one of the strengths of this work. Their multi-perspective approach is used throughout and forms an underlying unity for the work. Equal space is given to each chapter theme and the terminology is consistent throughout.

Modularity rating: 5

It is almost mathematically divided into seven chapters each containing three time periods and each period containing three to four sections. The time periods are 1500-1800, 1800-1900, 1900-2000. This could easily be broken into three books: Early Modern, Modern, and Contemporary History. Also, individual themes could be used as reading sections.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The primary organization of this work is theme-driven rather than chronological. The authors maintain that the flow is not the classical grand narrative of European Civilization. Their work is divided into seven chapters (or units) entitled. IDENTITIES, SOCIETIES, POWER AND CITIZENSHIP, KNOWLEDGE, ECONOMY, LIVING WITH DIFFERENCES, and CULTURAL ENCOUNTERS. However, these are then each divided into subthemes which are then divided into time periods. For example, Chapter One (or Unit 1) looks at "IDENTITIES." This is divided into "IDEAS OF EUROPE," "BORDERS," "MIGRATION," and "EUROPE’S OTHER(ED)S: THE AMERICAS, AFRICA, ASIA, AND THE MIDDLE EAST." Each is then examined within the context of each of the three time periods of early modern, modern, and contemporary history.

Interface rating: 5

There are no significant interface issues. The text is easy to navigate and the images and charts are visible and relevant to the text at hand.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I could see no grammatical errors in this text.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The multi-perspective approach to this work is its strength and therefore it is culturally sensitive. The theme for chapter (or unit) two is "SOCIETIES." The sub-themes are: "DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE," "INTERETHNIC RELATIONS," "HOUSEHOLD AND FAMILY," and "INEQUALITIES." In a Discussion Questions section for the first sub-theme appears the question, "The twentieth century was full of interethnic tensions. Do you think the EU has solved these problems? Why or why not?" The authors engage students in the multiculturalism of the European past and ask them to relate it to contexts today in Europe. This is even explored further in a Discussion Questions section of this chapter in the subtheme entitled "INEQUALITIES." Here students are asked: "Do you think the inequalities of the twentieth century still exist today? Why or why not? Are there new inequalities in the twenty-first century?" Again, we see the authors pushing the students to relate diverse social themes to their contexts. In a Discussion Questions section of our sixth subtheme, "HOUSEHOLD AND FAMILIES," appears the question: "Describe how the idea of motherhood changed in the nineteenth century. Does this still influence our society today?"

This work could be used as a stand-alone text in an upper-level history class or sections could be taken out and used within additional online sources. This is an ideal textbook for international undergrad students. Focusing on the Questions for Discussion will help American history students liberate themselves from their tendency to cling to chronology.