The Penguin Atlas of Modern History: To 1815

by Colin McEvedy

Book Overview

In The Penguin Atlas of Modern History , Colin McEvedy has compiled an absorbing source of reference to the major developments of modern history from 1483 to 1815. Nearly forty maps and a detailed... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140708413
• ISBN13: 9780140708417
• Release Date: April 1973
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Length: 97 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Another superb historical atlas from Penguin

This entire series is superb and is absolutely essential for any lover of historical atlases. I have been an owner of virtually all of them for at ten years and I can honestly say that they are most read books of all that I own. The reason is their unique portability and scope. Most historical atlas are huge, heavy and expensive. They are difficult to read unless you are sitting at a table and very difficult to carry. This limits their utility (even though I still love them). Most history books have lots of dense detail about one nation or one period. Virtually none cover the broad sweep of an entire region over centuries. This atlas covers Europe, western Russia and the Mediterranean, although some of the maps are global. It starts in 1483 and finishes in 1815. In all, it has 39 maps. Each of the maps are about 30 years apart, although the exact timing varies. The focus is very heavily on Europe, even more than the rest of the series. This is a bit of a drawback, but given how important Europe was during this period, it is excusable Like all Penguin Historical Atlases, it is small, light, reasonably priced and incredibly broad in scope. These atlases offer a unique perspective on history than is otherwise impossible to achieve. Their size and weight make them perfect for travelling. Whenever I go on a trip, I take the most relevant ones with me. That way I can brush up on my history of the region. The format is extremely useful. Each two-page layout represents a specific time period. On the right is a historical map. On the left is a very brief overview of the important events that happened since the previous map. Each event usually consists of one paragraph or at most a few paragraphs, just enough to peak the interest. Most of the maps document boundaries and note a few key cities or battlegrounds. Occasionally, the maps focus on population, religion or economics. What is most fun for me is to trace the history or one nation, province or sub-region through the entire atlas. In just a few minutes I can learn as much as spending days reading an entire book. You can also see how individual nations interact with each other, a subject often left out of typical history books.

An Excellent Ancillary Text for AP Modern European History

I am writing this review to call this book (and its companion, The New Penguin Atlas of Recent History by the same author) to the attention of all the teachers and students of Advanced Placement Modern European History. Its conciseness, the entertaining nature of its narrative, and the lucidity of its well-conceived maps make it a wonderful supplement for whatever textbook you use for teaching and learning this subject matter. It can be used effectively throughout the year to make the bewildering detail of the successive epochs of European development more understandable by its clear pinpointing of the strategic objectives the various European states were aiming at. Its discussions are also so compact that they make excellent reviews before tests -- and before the big exam at the end of the year, especially. I can't recommend another work available in this field more highly. Criticism of the military and political emphases of McEvedy's narrative seem beside the point as these were instrumental in acquiring wealth and were, whether we like it or not, the basis of policy decisions for all European rulers. The introduction to this volume is particularly valuable as it challenges the universally accepted notion that Scientific and Industrial Revolutions occurred within an encapsulated time periods as a result of immediate causative factors. Here, McEvedy clearly states that the advantages European states enjoyed were not military, but cultural and administrative. These advantages were accumulated gradually. McEvedy's military/political emphasis is merely the result of his recognition that the acquisition of financial power is the objective of the modern state and that history is the resulting record of the means that shaped these ends. Lastly, one reason I find this work so useful because it is written by a British author with all the advantages that perspective entails for a view of Eurocentric history. Use this work for your APMEH courses!

An excellent resource--and most enjoyable reading

This was the first of Colin McEvidy's historical atlases in my collection. His skill at showing the panoramic sweep of history has kept me coming back for more.This volume does an excellent job in covering the period from the late fifteenth century to the fall of Napoleon. The maps are excellent--clear and well-thought out. But what sets this series apart from other historical atlases is Colin McEvidy's sharp wit. The fact that French King Francis I had "more dash than brains" breathes greater life into that monarch's appearance on the world stage than might be expected in the few lines alotted to him.Overall a wonderful atlas and a good read.