Europe

Fully revised, updated and extended to include the momentous developments of 2020, the fourth edition of Peter Rietbergen’s highly acclaimed Europe: A Cultural History is a major and original contribution to the study of Europe. It is the definitive cultural history for general readers and students.

Praise for the previous edition:

"Europe: A Cultural History does not just provide an accessible and lively account of European cultural thought and practice from prehistory to the present; more importantly, it also offers a sustained reflection on what the idea of 'Europe' has meant to different people at different times. Peter Rietbergen's book is a superb one-volume introduction to European cultural history."

Paul Stock, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK

"Peter Rietbergen’s fluently written book is an insightful account of the cultural history of Europe, its multiple cultural identities and its continuously changing webs of significance. Rietbergen draws on an impressive array of source material to examine the transformation of Europe from its earliest developments to the challenges it today confronts. Europe: A Cultural History is highly recommended reading for students and researchers of European culture and its history."

Hannu Salmi, University of Turku, Finland

"This book remains a reliable, stimulating and readable guide to many aspects of European cultural history. It is Peter Rietbergen's own idiosyncratic selection of material and ideas, and it provides us with an original and entertaining take on an immense spread of material."

Michael Wintle, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

"Nuanced, non-teleological and critically distinguishing, yet comprehensive and remarkably readable, Rietbergen’s history of European culture will be an unavoidable reference point for any serious debate on its topic for years to come."

Bertel Nygaard, Aarhus University, Denmark

"Peter Rietbergen presents a book, which is unlike the standard textbooks on the cultural history of Europe. Instead of just summing up names, dates and facts, it offers the reader a provocative personal reflection on the incredibly rich and highly varied contents of the European heritage. It will serve as an eye-opener for all those students who aspire to look beyond the main narrative into the primary sources of Western thought. Therefore, this book can be an invaluable tool in higher education."

Henk Kern, Leiden University, The Netherlands

Peter Rietbergen is Emeritus Professor of Cultural History at Radboud University, Nijmegen, in the Netherlands. He is author of 15 monographs, including Europe’s India (2007); Rome and the World – the World in Rome: The Politics of International Culture, 1861–2011 (2012); and the best-selling Short History of the Netherlands (1993, and ten revised editions till 2018), which has also been translated into Dutch, German and Japanese.