Barricades and Borders: Europe 1800-1914

By Robert Gildea and Spike Gildea

Book Overview

This is a comprehensive survey of European history from the coup d'etat of Napoleon Bonaparte in France to the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand at Sarajevo, which led to the First World War. It concentrates on the twin themes of revolution and nationalism, which often combined in the early part of the century but which increasingly became rival creeds. Going beyond traditional political and diplomatic history, the book incorporates the results of recent research on population movements, the expansion of markets, the accumulation of capital, social mobility, education, changing patterns of leisure, religious practices, and intellectual and artistic developments.
The work falls into three chronological sections. The first, starting in 1800 (rather than the more usual 1815) follows the build-up of the revolutionary currents which were eventually going to erupt in the Year of Revolutions' 1848. The second, from 1850 to 1880, deals with the golden age of capitalism, the successful culmination of struggles for national unification, and the threat of anarchism. The concluding chapters look at the social and political stresses caused by socialism and national minorities, at new attempts by government to order society, imperial rivalry, and the descent into a war which was to mark the end of nineteenth-century Europe.
For this third edition, Dr Gildea has substantially revised the text and maps, and completely updated the bibliography. New introductory sections guide the reader through the wealth of material in each chapter. The new edition also includes a full chronology of the period, a list of leading state ministers, and family trees for all the major dynasties.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0199253005
• ISBN13: 9780199253005
• Release Date: April 2003
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 544 Pages
• Weight: 1.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Good coverage, dense text

As far as single-volume histories of 19th century Europe go, Gildea's _Barricades & Borders_ is probably the best available. The book provides solid and sufficiently detailed coverage of the Continent's majors political and social events, though the century's fantastic artistic and cultural history is comes up short thanks, in large part, to the inclusion of only a few b & w illustrations. Still, if you're looking for a comprehensive treatment of the age, you won't go wrong with this book.

Very Good Book

I used this book for my class on Nineteenth Century Europe. We started in 1815 following the fall of Napoleon and ended on the verge of World War I. This is a very good book and it covers all the information on this very critical time period in European History. The Nineteenth Century came after the French Revolution and before the First World War and was much different from both the 18th and 20th centuries. Robert Gildea gives equal space to all countries including those which are often overlooked, including the Low Countries. The social, intellectual, and cultural history of Europe between 1800-1914 is presented in a very well written format. The information contained on Germany and France is very informative and easy to understand. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Modern European history.