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Vanished Kingdoms: The History Of Half-Forgotten Europe (2011)

by Norman Davies(Favorite Author)

3.76 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1846143381 (ISBN13: 9781846143380)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Allen Lane

review 1: Excellent book, can't recommend it highly enough only wish I had bought it rather than borrowing it so i could lend it to people. Really fascinating look at various nations of europe that never happened, almost happened, or fell apart. I started reading this when things were heating up in Ukraine and Davies book has really helped explain why and how Ukraine became such a tangled mess. Davies takes to task the idea of the nation state, but in a well written and engaging manner. Not to mention its an excellent history of many place you've never heard much about, like the seven counties of Burgundy, the kingdom of Galicia, a delightful history of Montenegro. Even the more established states covered, Prussia, Aragon, or Savoy, are told from new perspectives that challenge expe... morectations and supposid historic inevitabilities. As I said at the outset, can't recommend this one enough.
review 2: There are times when this book loses its way and attempts to bury the reader under an avalanche of research and anecdote. Persevere with it though, and the tales of vanished kingdoms and republics slowly cohere into a tapestry of Europe's evolution from the perspective of the losers. Probably best read in chunks rather than tackled in one go, it might prove the launching point for an interest in stranger and more specific tales of history. less

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