The World In 1800

"Olivier Bernier's richly detailed, engaging, and elegant books offers a splendid refresher course on a pivotal moment in world history - the dawn of the modern era." - Francine du Plessix Gray In the year 1800, almost everyone lived very much as their ancestors had, going back countless generations. In the countryside, illiterate peasants - the majority of the population - still scratched out a living from the soil, while in the cities, merchants hawked their wares in open-air market stalls and nobles led lives of opulent leisure. Yet everywhere were unmistakable signs that all of this would soon change forever. Spread by France's seemingly invincible citizens' army, the seeds of republicanism had been planted throughout Europe. In the Americas, the United States had proved to the world the feasibility of a government of, by, and for the people, and Mexico was threatening to follow its lead. And while it still took four months for an official dispatch to travel from London to Calcutta, Europe's leading nations - France and England - had established global empire-building strategies. In the year 1800, the world suddenly found itself enmeshed in a web of money, war, and political intrigue, out of which a new world - our world - was struggling to be born. Bringing all his talents as a first-rate storyteller to bear, Bernier takes us inside the courts and parliaments of the major powers to listen in on the political discourse of the day. He leads us into the boudoirs and ballrooms of the rich, the cramped homes of the middle class, and the hovels of the poor to provide an intimate glimpse of the private lives of the first modern men and women. A spellbinding account of one of the most momentous chapters in the story of civilization, The World in 1800 is a singular achievement by a premier historian and an irresistible read.

Britain in the Wider World traces the remarkable transformation of Britain between 1603 and 1800 as it developed into a world power. At the accession of James VI and I to the throne of England in 1603, the kingdoms of England/Wales, Scotland and Ireland were united only by having a monarch in common. They had little presence in the world and were fraught with violence. Two centuries later, the consolidated state of the United Kingdom, established in 1801, was an economic powerhouse and increasingly geopolitically important, with an empire that stretched from the Americas, to Asia and to the Pacific. The book offers a fresh approach to assessing Britain’s evolution, situating Britain within both imperial and Atlantic history, and examining how Britain came together politically and socially throughout the eighteenth century. In particular, it offers a detailed exploration of Britain as a fiscal-military state, able to fight major wars without bankrupting itself. Through studying patterns of political authority and gender relationships, it also stresses the constancy of fundamental features of British society, economy, and politics despite considerable internal changes. Detailed, accessibly written, and enhanced by illustrations, Britain in the Wider World is ideal for students of early modern Britain.

The startling economic and political answers behind Europe's historical dominance Between 1492 and 1914, Europeans conquered 84 percent of the globe. But why did Europe establish global dominance, when for centuries the Chinese, Japanese, Ottomans, and South Asians were far more advanced? In Why Did Europe Conquer the World?, Philip Hoffman demonstrates that conventional explanations—such as geography, epidemic disease, and the Industrial Revolution—fail to provide answers. Arguing instead for the pivotal role of economic and political history, Hoffman shows that if certain variables had been different, Europe would have been eclipsed, and another power could have become master of the world. Hoffman sheds light on the two millennia of economic, political, and historical changes that set European states on a distinctive path of development, military rivalry, and war. This resulted in astonishingly rapid growth in Europe's military sector, and produced an insurmountable lead in gunpowder technology. The consequences determined which states established colonial empires or ran the slave trade, and even which economies were the first to industrialize. Debunking traditional arguments, Why Did Europe Conquer the World? reveals the startling reasons behind Europe's historic global supremacy.

The European World 1500-1800 provides a concise and authoritative textbook for the centuries between the Renaissance and the French Revolution. It presents early modern Europe not as a mere transition phase, but a dynamic period worth studying in its own right. Written by an experienced team of specialists, and derived from a successful undergraduate course, it offers a student-friendly introduction to all major themes and processes of early modern history. This third edition features greatly expanded coverage of ‘The Wider World’, with added chapters on relations with the Ottoman empire, European settlement overseas and the global exchange of goods. Other new content includes an overview of early modern medicine and comprehensive timelines for each of the thematic parts. Specially designed to assist learning, The European World 1500-1800 features: expert surveys of key topics written by an international group of historians suggestions for seminar discussion and further reading extracts from primary sources and generous illustrations, including maps a glossary of key terms and concepts a full index of persons, places and subjects and a much enhanced companion website, offering colour images, direct access to primary materials, and interactive features which highlight key events and locations discussed in the volume. The European World 1500-1800 will be essential reading for all students embarking on the discovery of the early modern period. For support with the early modern historiographical debates see the partnering volume Interpreting Early Modern Europe Edited by C. Scott Dixon and Beat Kumin - https://www.routledge.com/Interpreting-Early-Modern-Europe/Dixon-Kumin/p/book/9781138799011

A concise history of the world from the Paleolithic to the present, telling the story of humans as producers and reproducers.

The European World 1500-1800 provides a concise and authoritative textbook for the centuries between the Renaissance and the French Revolution. It presents early modern Europe not as a mere transition phase, but a dynamic period worth studying in its own right. Written by an experienced team of specialists, and derived from a successful undergraduate course, it offers a student-friendly introduction to all major themes and processes of early modern history. This third edition features greatly expanded coverage of 'The Wider World', with added chapters on relations with the Ottoman empire, European settlement overseas and the global exchange of goods. Other new content includes an overview of early modern medicine and comprehensive timelines for each of the thematic parts. Specially designed to assist learning, The European World 1500-1800 features: expert surveys of key topics written by an international group of historians suggestions for seminar discussion and further reading extracts from primary sources and generous illustrations, including maps a glossary of key terms and concepts a full index of persons, places and subjects and a much enhanced companion website, offering colour images, direct access to primary materials, and interactive features which highlight key events and locations discussed in the volume. The European World 1500-1800 will be essential reading for all students embarking on the discovery of the early modern period.

Provides a concise introduction to and overview of the centuries in Europe between the Renaissance and the French Revolution. Features include: surveys of key topics written by an international team of historians; suggestions for seminar discussion and further reading; extracts from primary sources; a glossary; and chapter chronologies of major events.