The Foundations of Early Modern Europe: 1460-1559

by Eugene F. Rice Jr.

Book Overview

Professor Rice, assisted in this edition by Professor Tony Grafton continues to argue, as in the first edition, that this century represents a shift from medieval to "early" modern.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393963047
• ISBN13: 9780393963045
• Release Date: February 1994
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.4" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

excellent on many points

The chief strength of this book is its coverage of economic, military and political history. Of course in this period (basically the Renaissance and Reformation) most of us focus on the artistic, religious, philosophical and scientific developments--so we can use this background information very well. This was my situation, and I found this little book (just 200 pages) perfectly illuminating. In fact, it's the most well-organized, concise, informative text on this period that I know of. The only strong criticism I can make is that it covers cultural developments only very briefly, since its focus lies elsewhere. Evidently the author realizes that if you know nothing about the period you need an introduction; but if you are going to study the cultural history in any depth, this is at best an introduction. So, to compliment this book, I strongly recommend something like Jansen's Art History, and something like Naxos' "Discover Early Music" (ASIN: B000B6N6BI). Besides that, I recommend moving on to the other books in the Norton History of Modern Europe series--next is Dunn's "The Age of Religious Wars," itself a fine book. If you want to learn the history of the period, or to brush up, I can happily recommend starting here. But if you want more depth, I especially recommend Diarmaid MacCulloch's "Reformation." Unfortunately I do not know what book to recommend if you want to study the Renaissance in any depth. I believe Peter Burke's "The Italian Renaissance" is a classic, perhaps the classic, coverage, but I can't really recommend it since I haven't read it. I strongly recommend complimenting all this with a history of the Ottoman Empire such as Lord Kinross' "Ottoman Centuries"--a too often neglected but undeniably central part of early modern European history.

Excellent in Scope and understaning: Great Indroduction

Eugene Rice has summed up the age of reformation very well in this book. It is very readable and quite scholarly considering the broad scope of time and place the author covers in this work. This work provides a great introduction to the subject in a couple hundred pages of relatively easy reading. Before reading deep into Luther or Charles V, begin to read primary sources of the age, or even read fiction like Dan Brown's "Davinci Code", it makes sense to get some introductory material. This book covers that subject well. Taking the period from all angles, Rice describes lifestyles of all economic strata while also explaining the cultural shifts of Humanism and the rise of the early modern state. He also explains in great clarity the factors that brought reformation about. I appreciate the fact that he also discusses other protestants and why they did not stick tightly to Luther's views. Further, Rice organizes this book in a way that makes it very accessible to someone who doesn't want to read the work from cover to cover. Overall this is really an excellent work that I recommend highly to all students and to anyone who wants to learn about our past. The books provides a great read without oversimplifying issues like William Manchester's "A World Lit Only B Fire". I think after reading you will agree this book opens the door and sheds light on the early modern era nicely. -- Ted Murena

Succinct yet insightful, scholarly yet readable. A classic.

Rice's work is a superb short survey of the technology and ideas that created our modern world. Despite the high level of scholarship, the text is eminently readable with a graceful, lucid style that successfully walks the tightrope of summarizing without oversimplifying. The chapter on the impact of the invention of printing is alone worth the price of the book. Excellent illustrations and maps throughout, and the typeface is exquisite. I read this book twenty years ago for a college history course and recently reread it in the second edition. An unparalleled account of the early modern period and undoubtedly on its way to becoming a modern classic.