The Mighty Continent: A Candid History of Modern Europe

Walter A. McDougall, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, traces the development of modern Europe from the fifteenth to the twenty-first century. His narrative covers domestic political, economic, social, intellectual, and cultural developments across major European nations. McDougall examines key historical periods and events, including the Renaissance, the Protestant and Catholic Reformations, the Age of Exploration, the Scientific, French, and Industrial Revolutions, the sources of modernism, the origins of World War I, the rise of totalitarianism, the advance of the European Union, and the collapse of communism. The work presents this history in a comprehensive yet concise format, offering new insights and interpretations on these subjects. McDougall aims to present the material objectively while remaining direct in his approach, treating the historical figures who shaped modern Europe fairly.