"History writing at its glorious best."--The New York Times

"A triumphant success. [Blanning] brings knowledge, expertise, sound judgment and a colorful narrative style."--The Economist

The New York Times bestselling volume in the Penguin History of Europe series

Between the end of the Thirty Years' War and the Battle of Waterloo, Europe underwent an extraordinary transformatoin that saw five of the modern world's great revolutions--scientific, industrial, American, French, and romantic. In this much-admired addition to the monumental Penguin History of Europe series, Tim Blanning brilliantly investigates the forces that transformed Europe from a medieval society into a vigorous powerhose of the modern world. Blanning renders this vast subject immediate and absorbing by making fresh connections between the most mundane details of life and the major cultural, political, and technological transformations that birthed the modern age.