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A History of the Modern World

A History of the Modern World is a work initially published by the distinguished American historian at Princeton and Yale universities Robert Roswell Palmer in 1950. The work has since been extended by Joel Colton (from its second edition, 1956) and Lloyd S. Kramer (from its ninth edition, 2001), and currently counts 12 editions. First published in 1950, and translated into six languages, the book is used in more than 1,000 colleges and universities, as well as many high school advanced placement courses.

The second edition (1956), comprises two volumes, 20 main chapters and 110 sub-chapters. The author focuses on World History from a European perspective, and the newer editions also exists under the title "A History of Europe in the Modern World".

Content (second edition)

Content of the second edition, Note: Swedish translation re-translated. Although this double translation may differ in some words or formulations, from the American English original, this illustrates the content and structure of R.R. Palmer's work.

First book

The Ancient Greece to 1848

  • Chapter 1 - Birth of Europe

1. Ancient Greece, Rome and Christianity, p.&nbsp;3<br> 2. Early Middle Ages, Forming of Europe, p.&nbsp;10 <br> 3. High Middle Ages, Profane culture, p.&nbsp;18<br> 4. High Middle Ages, the Church, p.&nbsp;29

  • Chapter 2 - The Upheaval within the Christian Church 1300 - 1560

5. Decay of the Church, p.&nbsp;39<br> 6. The Renaissance in Italy, p.&nbsp;44<br> 7. The Renaissance outside Italy, p.&nbsp;52<br> 8. The new Monarchies, p.&nbsp;54<br> 9. Protestantism, p.&nbsp;60<br> 10. Catholic reformation and restructure, p.&nbsp;73

  • Chapter 3 - The Religious Wars 1560 - 1648

11. Opening of the Atlantic Ocean, p.&nbsp;81<br> 12. The Commercial Revolution, p.&nbsp;85<br> 13. The Spanish Inquisition; the Dutch and the English, p.&nbsp;95<br> 14. France's decomposition and reconstruction, p.&nbsp;104<br> 15. The thirty-year war; Germany's decay, p.&nbsp;111

  • Chapter 4 - Western Europe in Leadership Position

16. The Great Monarch and the Balance in Europe, p.&nbsp;121<br> 17. The Dutch Republic, p.&nbsp;124<br> 18. England: the Puritan Republic, p.&nbsp;129<br> 19. England: the Triumph of the Parliament, p.&nbsp;136<br> 20. Louis XIV's France 1643-1715; the Triumph of Absolutism, p.&nbsp;142<br> 21. Louis XIV's War; Treaty of Utrecht, p.&nbsp;152

  • Chapter 5 - Transformation of Eastern Europe 1648 - 1740

22. Three aging values, p.&nbsp;159<br> 23. Arising of the Austrian Monarchy, p.&nbsp;170<br> 24. Origin of Prussia, p.&nbsp;175<br> 25. Russia's Transforming into Western Values, p.&nbsp;175<br> 26. Poland's divisions, p.&nbsp;195

  • Chapter 6 - The Struggle for Wealth and Power

27. The World's Housekeeping during the 18th Century, p.&nbsp;200<br> 28. Western Europe after Utrecht, p.&nbsp;209<br> 29. The Big War in the middle of the 18th Century, p.&nbsp;219

  • Chapter 7 - The Scientific perspective of the World

30. The Prophets of Scientific Culture - Bacon and Descartes, p.&nbsp;234<br> 31. The Road to Newton: Law of Gravitation, p.&nbsp;239<br> 32. Expanded Knowledge of the Human Being and Society, p.&nbsp;247<br> 33. Political Theory: the Natural Law School, p.&nbsp;254

  • Chapter 8 - Age of Enlightenment

34. "The Philosophers", p.&nbsp;261<br> 35. Enlightened Despotism, France, Austria, Prussia, p.&nbsp;272<br> 36. Enlightened Despotism, Russia, p.&nbsp;282<br> 37. The American Revolution, p.&nbsp;289

  • Chapter 9 - The French Revolution

38. Preconditions, p.&nbsp;303<br> 39. The Revolution 1789, p.&nbsp;307<br> 40. The French Unity, p.&nbsp;315<br> 41. The Revolution and Europe: The War and the "second" revolution 1792, p.&nbsp;320<br> 42. The French Remodeling of Society, p.&nbsp;315<br> 43. Republican Crisis 1792-95: Reign of Terror, p.&nbsp;325<br> 44. The Despotic Republic 1799-1804, p.&nbsp;337<br>

  • Chapter 10 - The Napoleonic Europe

45. The Creation of the French Empire, p.&nbsp;345<br> 46. The large Empire: the Propagation of the Revolution, p.&nbsp;354<br> 47. The Continental System: Britain and Europe, p.&nbsp;359<br> 48. The National Movements: Germany, p.&nbsp;364<br> 49. Napoleon defeated: The Vienna Congress, p.&nbsp;372

  • Chapter 11 - Reaction versus progress 1815 - 1848

50. The Industrial Revolution, p.&nbsp;384<br> 51. Origin of the new Ideologies, p.&nbsp;391<br> 52. The Dam of the River: Domestic Politics, p.&nbsp;403<br> 53. The Breakthrough of Liberalism in the West: The Revolutions 1830-32, p.&nbsp;413<br> 54. The triumph of Western Bourgeois, p.&nbsp;423

Second book

The 1848 Revolutions to the Second World War and its aftermath

  • Chapter 12 - 1848: An interrupted Revolution

56: Paris: the Ghost of Western Social Revolutions, p.&nbsp;2<br> 57: Vienna: the National Revolution in Central Europe, p.&nbsp;9<br> 58: Frankfurt and Berlin: the Question of a Liberal Europe, p.&nbsp;17<br> 59: The Consequences of the 1848 Revolutions: the hard Objectivity, p.&nbsp;24<br> 60: Birth of Marxism, p.&nbsp;27<br> 61: Bonaparteism: The Second French Empire 1852-70, p.&nbsp;33

  • Chapter 13 - Consolidation of the large Countries

62: Background: the idea of National States, p.&nbsp;39<br> 63: Cavour and the Italian War 1859: Italy's Unification, p.&nbsp;42<br> 64: Bismarck: the Foundation of the German Empire, p.&nbsp;47<br> 65: The Double Monarchy Austria-Hungary, p.&nbsp;56<br> 66: Liberalisation of Tsar-Russia: Alexander II, p.&nbsp;60<br> 67: United States: The Civil War, p.&nbsp;65<br> 68: Dominion Canada 1867, p.&nbsp;71<br> 69: Japan versus the West, p.&nbsp;74

  • Chapter 14 - The European Civilization 1871-1914

70: "The Civilized World", p.&nbsp;82<br> 71: Demographic Basics: The Growth of the European Population, p.&nbsp;84<br> 72: The World's Housekeeping during the 19th Century, p.&nbsp;92<br> 73: Democracy's progress: Third French Republic, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, German Empire, p.&nbsp;100<br> 74: Democracy's progress: Socialism and Worker's Unions, p.&nbsp;112<br> 75: Science, Philosophy and Religion, p.&nbsp;119<br> 76: The Extinction of Classic Liberalism, p.&nbsp;129

  • Chapter 15 - The European World Domination

77: Imperialism: its Nature and Reasons, p.&nbsp;137<br> 78: America, p.&nbsp;144<br> 79: The Dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, p.&nbsp;149<br> 80: Africa's division, p.&nbsp;157<br> 81: Imperialism in Asia: the Dutch, the British and the Russians, p.&nbsp;164<br> 82: Imperialism in Asia: China and the West, p.&nbsp;168<br> 83: The Russian-Japanese war, p.&nbsp;172

  • Chapter 16 - World War One

84: The International Anarchy, p.&nbsp;175<br> 85: The Battle of Marne and the new Countenance of the War, p.&nbsp;184<br> 86: Stalemate 1915-1916, the Navy, the Army, Diplomacy, p.&nbsp;186<br> 87: The Russian Collapse and the United States' intervention, p.&nbsp;194<br> 88: The Collapse of the Austrian and German Empires, p.&nbsp;200<br> 89: The War's Economical and Social Effects, p.&nbsp;202<br> 90: The Peace in Paris 1919, p.&nbsp;206

  • Chapter 17 - The Russian Revolution

91: Background, p.&nbsp;216<br> 92: The 1905 Revolution, p.&nbsp;224<br> 93: The 1917 Revolution, p.&nbsp;229<br> 94: The Union of the Socialist Soviet Republics, p.&nbsp;237 <br> 95: Stalin: the Five Year Plans and the Cleansings, p.&nbsp;244 <br> 96: The International Effects of Communism, p.&nbsp;254

  • Chapter 18 - The apparent victory of democracy

97: Democracy's advancement and the New Deal, p.&nbsp;260<br> 98: The German Republic and the Spirit of Locarno, p.&nbsp;265<br> 99: Asia's Revolt, p.&nbsp;272<br> 100: The Great Depression: Collapse of the World's Housekeeping, p.&nbsp;284

  • Chapter 19 - Democracy and Dictatorship

101: The United States: Depression and the New Deal, p.&nbsp;292<br> 102: Stress and Adaptation for the British and French Democracies, p.&nbsp;297<br> 103: Totalitarianism: The Italian Fascism, p.&nbsp;306<br> 104: Totalitarianism: Germany's Third Reich, p.&nbsp;311<br> 105: Weakness of the West: Against a New War, p.&nbsp;323

  • Chapter 20 - The Earthquake: The Second World War and its Aftermath

106: The Axis Powers' Triumphs, p.&nbsp;333<br> 107: The Western Powers' and Soviet Union's Victories, p.&nbsp;341<br> 108: Restructure and Revolution in Europe and Asia after the War, p.&nbsp;349<br> 109: The Democracies After 1945, p.&nbsp;358<br> 110: Two Worlds at Conflict, p.&nbsp;368

Criticism

ISBN of later editions

  • 10th and 13th edition:

References