"This brand new Handbook will be greatly welcomed by all those teaching and studying American history and politics, and indeed by all those simply interested in American affairs. It comes as a natural companion to the existing, and now well-established, Handbooks of British and European history. The book covers the period from the War of Independence to the present day and is aimed at providing the reader with a handy, user-friendly desktop companion on all major aspects of modern American history and politics. It includes: A section devoted to Political History. This includes a detailed chronology of the main events; information on the Constitution and subsequent amendments; listings of all the presidents and major office holders; notes on the legislature, the judicature and the political parties. The actual Constitution and the Bill of Rights are reproduced as appendices at the end of the text. Chronologies, backed up by key statistics, on all the major themes in Social and Religious History. Readers will find information on, for example, public health and social welfare; black American history; American Indians; the women's movement; pacifism and the anti-war movement; and the environment. Key facts and figures in Economic History, including sections on population; immigration; industry and trade; agriculture; and transport. Detailed information on Foreign Affairs and Defence. The authors have provided concise summaries of all the major wars; and two chronologies, one on the armed forces and a second on the Cold War, nuclear rivalry and detente between 1942 and 1991. Supporting these main sections are over two hundred succinct Biographies of the key figures; a remarkably comprehensive Glossary of Terms - running to over sixty pages of text; an extensive, thematically-arrange, Topic Bibliography ; and six maps. The book packs an immense amount of information into a convenient and accessible form, and will be an invaluable resource for anyone for whom the study of American history is a preoccupation or a pleasure." --

The Third Edition of this user-friendly compendium provides full coverage of the dramatic events of the mid-1990s. New material includes details of the war in the former Yugoslavia, political ferment in Yeltsin's Russia, and the emergence of new political systems and states in central and eastern Europe.

'Antony Alcock's A Short History of Europe offers a straightforward, meticulously researched account; one which provides the student with clear and detailed analysis. Future generations of undergraduates and postgraduates alike will have cause to be grateful for a stimulating introduction to a major area of European studies.' - J.E. Spence, Associate Fellow, Royal Institute of International Affairs Alcock examines the historical development of Europe from the Greek city states through to the 1992 Maastricht Treaty on European integration. He also analyses: the rise of Christianity, the contributions of the Roman and Byzantine Empires, the rivalry between the Papacy and Holy Roman Empire, and the consequences for the rise of states, European domination of the world following the voyages of discovery, continental royal absolutism and British political liberty, the impacts of the French and Industrial Revolutions, the two world wars, the integration process since 1945 and the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Europe 1783–1914 provides a comprehensive overview of Europe from the background of the French Revolution to the origins of the First World War. William Simpson and Martin Jones combine accounts of the most important countries with the wider political, economic, social and cultural themes affecting Europe as a whole, including: the impact of the French Revolution and Napoleon the rise of industry the growth of nationalism the 1848 revolutions Imperialism Marxism and left wing movements. This second edition has been significantly expanded with additional sections on Science and Technology and Thought and Culture. There are two entirely new chapters – 'Changes in the World of Ideas', which explores European responses to the Enlightenment and the French Revolution as reflected in literature, music and painting; and 'Europe and the United States', which examines the reciprocal relationship between these two continents during this critical period. The final chapter, 'Retrospect and Prospect', now addresses the changing intellectual climate under the influence of figures such as Darwin, Freud and Nietzsche, and new departures in the arts evident at the dawn of the twentieth century. Every chapter features a list of key dates, concise background information, and suggestions for further reading, as well as a concluding 'Topics for Debate' section which contains relevant contemporary sources and outlines the contrasting views of recent historians on the key issues. Extensively illustrated throughout with maps, contemporary cartoons and portraits, Europe 1783–1914 is a clear, detailed and highly accessible analysis of this turbulent and formative period of European History.