In this magisterial study, Peter Burke explores the social and cultural history of the languages spoken or written in Europe between the invention of printing and the French Revolution, arguing that, from a linguistic point of view, 1450 to 1789 should be regarded as a distinct period. One major theme of the book is the relation between languages and communities (regions, churches, occupations and genders as well as nations) and the place of language as a way of identifying others as well as a symbol of one's own identity.

This national best-seller from acclaimed and popular historian Alison Weir brings to vibrant life one of the most mysterious and alluring women of the Middle Ages. Who was Eleanor of Aquitaine? She was considered by nearly everyone who beheld her to be the most beautiful woman in Europe, yet no known portrait of her exists. In a time when most women were little more than property, she greatly influenced the politics of vast kingdoms.

The World at War"" (19201945) covers the period from the signing of the Versailles Treaty, which signaled the end of World War I, through World War II and the defeat of Japan. Special emphasis is given to the stressed postwar economies of Europe following the Great War, which set the stage for further international conflict.

To an extraordinary extent we continue to live in the shadow of the classical world. At every level from languages to calendars to political systems, we are the descendants of a 'classical Europe', using frames of reference created by ancient Mediterranean cultures. As this consistently fresh and surprising new book makes clear, however, this was no less true for the inhabitants of those classical civilizations themselves, whose myths, history, and buildings were an elaborate engagement with an already old and revered past filled with great leaders and writers, emigrations and battles.

During the decline of the Roman Empire, the migrations of a strong, rude people began to change the life of Europe. They were the German barbarians, or Teutonic tribes, who swept across the Rhine and the Danube into the empire. There they accepted Christianity. The union of barbarian vigor and religious spirit carried Europe to the threshold of modern times. That span from the ancient era to the modern is called the Middle Ages.