superpower-symbolized by the introduction of the euro on January 1, 2002-Europe has gained a new prominence on the world stage. But if you think that, in a changing world order, Europe is one area that we Americans have a grasp of-think again. The great stories of the century-the two world wars, the rise and fall of Nazism and Communism- are self-evident in their importance. But behind the politics and the ideologies lies another history: the history of forces that shaped the lives of individual Europeans…and the lives of men and women around the world. These are stories not only of politics and military movements, but also of culture, religion, sex, and demographics, related here with an unmatched eye for the telling detail and spiced with memorable anecdotes. As the U.K.'s prestigious Sunday Telegraph put it: "Vinen moves effortlessly from social and economic issues to politics, from ideology to military history…The writing is lively, the enthusiasm infectious, and the gift for bold, epigrammatic summary genuinely impressive."

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