Book review: A Short History of Europe, from Pericles to Putin, by Simon Jenkins

“This book,” Simon Jenkins writes, “is aimed at those without the time or inclination for a longer one.” Nothing wrong with that; he doesn’t believe that history should be taught in depth rather than breadth. On the contrary, without a knowledge of the outline of history, detached episodes or studies are meaningless and “those who cannot speak history to each other have nothing meaningful to say”. So he offers a short, invigorating gallop over two and a half thousand years. If, generally ignorant of history, you read this book from start to finish, you will at last have an understanding of how Europe comes to be as it is today, and you will have learned a lot that is interesting.