Europe [antikvár]

INTRODUCTIONwT Triti'riting about modern Europe is so vast and ambitious a project that the first problem is deciding what to leave out. Thousands of books have been written in recent years about almost every country, almost every aspect, of the continent that gave rise to Western civilization. The origin of this work was repeated requests from people to recommend "a book about Europe." There are so many, but I could not think of one to suggest as a general survey, an introduction to Europe's diversity but which also took account of the growing homogeneity and convergence of outlook. I was emboldened to try to produce one. In many ways the societies have changed profoundly, influencing one another and responding to common pressures. In other ways they remain deeply anchored in their special pasts and stubborn customs.The salient fact about Europe remains the nation-state. There is a sense of shared Europeanness which has waxed and waned in the last two generations, but it is still secondary to the sense of unique nationality which began to arise after the Renaissance and the decline of feudalism. Therefore, I decided to organize the book on a country-by-country basis. At the same time, there are themes which ignore borders and catch everyone up in the same kinds of problems. That too is an essential facet of modern Europe. In order to deal with the particular and the general, I have tried to organize warp and woof, weaving the!/themes one by one into the country chapters. The selection was nec-Ji. 13r'