Sign-In
Cart
Modern Europe: Europe in History
Paperback
Series: Europe in History, Book 12
French HistoryGeneral World History
ISBN13: 9789190150351
Publisher: Hui Wang
Published: Mar 3 2026
Pages: 204
Weight: 0.45
Height: 0.43 Width: 5.00 Depth: 8.00
Language: English
Modern Europe: Europe in History, PART TWO, is my attempt to trace one of the most dramatic transformations in political history - the long, turbulent arc by which Europe moved from revolutions and empires toward systems of representation and the idea of universal suffrage. The story opens amid the chaos of the French Revolution: from the fall of Maximilien Robespierre in the Thermidorian Reaction of 1794 to the eventual collapse of the Directory in 1799 - moments when France teetered on the edge of profound uncertainty. Out of that turmoil rose a Corsican-born officer, Napoleon Bonaparte, whose rapid ascent would redraw borders, reorder governments, and cast a shadow that still informs modern political life.
I trace Napoleon's path from ambitious general to ruler of France - his seizure of power in 1799, his coronation as Emperor at Notre-Dame in 1804, and the unstable world that followed his defeat and exile. The restoration of the Bourbon monarchy in 1814-1815, the political experiment of Louis-Philippe as King of the French (1830-1848), and the vigorous debates ignited by thinkers such as Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès - author of What Is the Third Estate? and a key figure in the 1799 coup - all reveal a continent wrestling with one central question: who should have the right to vote, and who should hold political power?
The nineteenth century arrived with fresh convulsions. The fall of the July Monarchy and the revolutionary shock of 1848 exposed the brittle seams of European politics, and the dramatic rise of Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte drove the point home: elected president of the French Republic in 1848, he seized power in the Coup of 1851 and, by 1852, had remade himself as Napoleon III. These upheavals were not just power struggles; they were the surface tremors of deeper intellectual currents reaching back to thinkers such as Aristotle-whose reflections on polity and citizenship, forged in 384-322 BCE, still cast long shadows over modern debates about authority and liberty.
The narrative then shifts to Britain, where change followed a different, more incremental script. From the reign of Henry VIII through the Glorious Revolution, and amid the long rivalry of Whigs and Tories and the steady political framework of the Hanoverian age, Britain slowly stitched together institutions that altered the mechanics of representation and parliamentary power. The landmark Reform Act 1832 (passed in 1832) cracked open the old order and ushered in a new political era-one that would, over decades, broaden participation and gradually redefine the relationship between government and society.
By the time the story reaches The Rise of Universal Suffrage and the Long Transition From Kings to the People, the sweeping transformation of European politics is unmistakable. This book stitches together revolutions, rulers, thinkers, and mass movements to trace how the institutions we call modern democracy were hammered out through centuries of conflict, compromise, and intellectual struggle.
1 different editions
Also available
Also from
Wang, Hui
Shield Tunneling Technology in Mixed Face Ground Conditions
Ju, Shijian
Zhu, Weibin
Wang, Hui
Hardcover
Graph Neural Network Methods and Applications in Scene Understanding
Wang, Hui
Liu, Weibin
Hao, Huaqing
Hardcover
The Maillard Reaction in Food Chemistry: Current Technology and Applications
Wang, Hui
Cheng, Faliang
Ruan, Dongliang
Paperback
Also in
French History
Art of the Defeat: France 1940-1944
Jane Marie Todd (translator)
Laurence Bertrand Dorleac (author)
Hardcover
A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II
Purnell, Sonia
Hardcover
A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II
Purnell, Sonia
Paperback
The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of WWII Resistance Hero Rose Valland
Young, Michelle
Hardcover
Wine and War: The French, the Nazis, and the Battle for France's Greatest Treasure
Kladstrup, Donald
Kladstrup, Petie
Paperback
The Hotel on Place Vendome: Life, Death, and Betrayal at the Hotel Ritz in Paris
Mazzeo, Tilar J.
Paperback
The Dark Side of France: A History of the French Far Right from the 1890s to the Present
O'Doherty, Enda
Hardcover
The First Emancipation: The Forgotten History of Abolition in Revolutionary France
Popkin, Jeremy D.
Hardcover
The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of WWII Resistance Hero Rose Valland
Young, Michelle
Paperback
Josephine Baker's Secret War: The African American Star Who Fought for France and Freedom
Diamond, Hanna
Hardcover
A Train in Winter: An Extraordinary Story of Women, Friendship, and Resistance in Occupied France
Moorehead, Caroline
Paperback
Beyond the Ocean: France and the Atlantic World from the Crusades to the Age of Revolutions
Hodson, Christopher
Rushforth, Brett
Hardcover
A Bite-Sized History of France: Gastronomic Tales of Revolution, War, and Enlightenment
Hénaut, Stéphane
Mitchell, Jeni
Paperback
The Last Empress of France: The Rebellious Life of Eugénie de Montijo
Kladstrup, Petie
Resnick, Evelyne
Hardcover
The People's Justice: Revolutionary Law and the Founding of the French Republic
Hesse, Carla
Hardcover
The Leopard in the Garden: Animal and Human Lives in Paris at the First Public Zoo of the Modern Era
Burkhardt, Richard W., Jr.
Hardcover
The Napoleonic Wars: An Enthralling Guide to Global Conflict, Revolutionary Tactics, and the Empire's Expansion
Wellman, Billy
Hardcover
Poilu: The World War I Notebooks of Corporal Louis Barthas, Barrelmaker, 1914-1918
Barthas, Louis
Paperback
And There Was Light: The Extraordinary Memoir of a Blind Hero of the French Resistance in World War II
Lusseyran, Jacques
Paperback
From Occupation to Integration: Recivilizing the French Zone of Post-Nazi Germany, 1945-1955
Flanagan, Drew
Hardcover
The First Total War: Napoleon's Europe and the Birth of Warfare as We Know It
Bell, David A.
Paperback
Dancing to the Precipice: The Life of Lucie de la Tour Du Pin, Eyewitness to an Era
Moorehead, Caroline
Paperback
Passionate Minds: Emilie du Chatelet, Voltaire, and the Great Love Affair of the Enlightenment
Bodanis, David
Paperback
Devil's Guard: The Fascinating, True Story of the French Foreign Legion's Nazi Battalion
Elford, George R.
Paperback
Six Armies in Normandy: From D-Day to the Liberation of Paris; June 6 - Aug. 5, 1944; Revised
Keegan, John
Paperback
From Ancient Gaul to Canada: A Trip Through the Enchanting History of French Canadians
Kish, Dennis
Paperback
Who Will Rescue Us?: The Story of the Jewish Children Who Fled to France and America During the Holocaust
Hobson Faure, Laura
Hardcover
Fashion Victims: Dress at the Court of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette
Chrisman-Campbell, Kimberly
Paperback
The Mapmaker's Wife: A True Tale of Love, Murder, and Survival in the Amazon
Whitaker, Robert
Paperback
City of Light, City of Poison: Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of Paris
Tucker, Holly
Paperback
Herald of a Restless World: How Henri Bergson Brought Philosophy to the People
Herring, Emily
Hardcover
Napoleon's Letters to Josephine, 1796-1812: Complete and Unabridged (Warbler Classics Annotated Edition)
Bonaparte, Napoleon
Paperback
The Collapse of the Third Republic: An Inquiry into the Fall of France in 1940
Shirer, William L.
Paperback
A Good Place to Hide: How One French Community Saved Thousands of Lives in World War II
Grose, Peter
Paperback
Matriarchal Societies of the Past and the Rise of Patriarchy: West Asia and Europe
Goettner-Abendroth, Heide
Hardcover
French Revolution: A Captivating Guide to the French Revolution, the Life of Marie Antoinette and the Impact Made by Napoleon Bonaparte
History, Captivating
Hardcover
A Protestant Air: Gide, Sartre, Barthes, and the Religion of Literary Modernity
Fauré-Bellaïche, Clémentine
Paperback
The Story of Modern France: The Kings, the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars and the Establishment of Democracy and Liberty
Guerber, Hélène Adeline
Paperback