The Blackwell Companions now form an impressive library of high quality subject guides to history, world history, American history, British history, and European history (to use the titles of the separate series). These books provide critical and authoritative overviews of the scholarship that underlies our current understanding of, in this case, Europe's “long nineteenth century”.
This volume comprises 32 essays averaging 14 pages each, written by specialist historians from around the world. The prose is accessible, avoiding unnecessary academic speak and jargon, in fact providing an enjoyable text that I would be pleased to put on my own shelves. In the words of the editor, “[T]hey are written in a clear, provocative, and lively manner, designed for an international audience of scholars, students, and general readers”. Each essay concludes with a brief prose Guide to Further Reading. (Interestingly, the text references refer to brief bibliographical details at the end of each essay, but for the full bibliographical details, one has to refer to the end‐of‐book bibliography. Sounds cumbersome, but it works surprisingly well, and avoids the tiresome Harvard‐style system.)
The 29 contributors come from around the world – Manchester, Michigan, Edinburgh, Purdue, Yale, Jerusalem, Amsterdam, etc. – and are not the cosy coterie of fellow academics beloved of some publishers. Editor Stefan Berger, Professor of Modern German and Comparative European History at the University of Manchester, has spread his net wide and deep. The rich mix of perspectives offset overlaps in subjects and adds to the value of the book.
The 31 chapters are divided into six parts. Part One looks at the notion of “Europeanness” and the construction of a European identity; Part Two looks at the transition of Europe from an agricultural society to one based on industrial production and international trade; Part Three covers political developments, including the “age of revolutions”, labour movements, and the role of state and nations; Part Four features intellectual history, for example the new ideas and ideologies of liberalism and socialism, and religious issues; Part Five, looks at themes in cultural history such as literacy, science, policing, and sexuality; and Part Six, the developments of the international system of great powers, and the related questions of war, empire, and colonialism.
The nature of the writing is impressive, and any library owning this volume, and other Blackwell Companions, will be a rich library indeed. I will certainly be reading this copy for many months to come. In addition to praising the quality of the writing and the subject coverage, I would like to comment on the work as a reference aid. The thought that has gone into this book by the publisher and editor is worthy of note. The subject breakdown is pleasingly clear and focussed – any user will quickly locate the chapter that covers their topic of interest. As noted above, the references tie into the end of book bibliography (number in text → brief citation at end of chapter → end of book for full bibliographical details). The individual article guides to further reading are concise, while the immaculate end‐of‐volume bibliography covers 50 pages and features over 1,600 books and articles. (Although I did spot one citation that did not quite tally – Gildea (1996) on p.xxvii and R. Gildea's Barricades of Borders of 2003 in the bibliography. The latter was a third edition. Was the Editor using an earlier one? Tut, tut! Sorry to nit‐pick!). The index is excellent.
I would be failing in my duty as a librarian if I did not mention my disappointment that public libraries received no mention in the index, nor anywhere else I looked, despite having “Cultural development”, “Intellectual development”, and even “Bourgeois society” as chapter or section headings. Indeed, libraries generally, get short shrift. A culpable omission, though Mechanics' Institutes do receive a brief airing. Overall, however, the coverage of this excellently produced book is impressive. “Realism and naturalism in the arts”, “The inception of the ‘modern woman’ question”, “Absolute war and the increasing violence of warfare”, and “Social control and mass politics: lords and peasants” are just four sub‐headings taken at random.
Unusually, and commendably, this book works well as a text for further study at undergraduate level and beyond; it works well as a collection of enjoyable “reads”; and most importantly, it works well as a reference resource and study aid. I recommend this book for educational libraries and other libraries that want to go beyond the encyclopedia.
