Three millennia of history on a momentous, world-changing continent, distilled into 208 thrilling pages, from The Shortest History series! Celebrated historian John Hirst draws from his own lectures to deliver this ultra-accessible master class on the making of modern Europe, from Ancient Greece through World War II. With over 600,000 copies sold worldwide, this brief history is a global sensation propelled by a thesis of astonishing simplicity: Just three elements–German warfare, Greek and Roman culture, and Christianity–come together to explain everything else, from the Crusades to the Industrial Revolution. Hirst’s razor-sharp grasp of cause and effect helps us see with sparkling clarity how the history of Europe–the crucible of liberal democracy–shapes the way we live today.