Author:Tim Blanning
'The Penguin History of Europe series ... is one of contemporary publishing's great projects' New Statesman
The Pursuit of Glory brings to life one of the most extraordinary periods in European history - from the battered, introvert continent after the Thirty Years War to the dynamic one that experienced the French Revolution and the wars of Napoleon. Tim Blanning depicts the lives of ordinary people and the dominant personalities of the age (Louis XIV, Frederick the Great, Napoleon), and explores an era of almost unprecedented change, growth and cultural, political and technological ferment that shaped the societies and economies of entire countries.
The Penguin History of Europe series ... is one of contemporary publishing's great projects
—— New StatesmanWith five volumes now out, the Penguin History of Europe series ... is shaping up to be the best general account available, superseding all previous ones
—— EconomistA vibrant look at the life of society beauty Jenny Jerome covering murder, espionage, love affairs and political machinations
—— Daily ExpressA great little book about the British obsession with the climate, it's full of fruitful parcels of meteorological lore.
—— Conde Nast Traveller... The writing possesses an affable charm and Fort has an appealing layman's enthusiasm for the subject.
—— Financial Times MagazineAn entertaining but rigorous antidote to the fast-and-loose-with-the-truth approach.
—— Radio TimesWonderfully engaging...Tinniswood has brought the Verneys to life in robustly vivid style
—— GuardianA wonderful group portrait of an eccentric and ill-starred dynasty. Expertly handling the humorous words and unwise deeds of several generations of Verneys, Adrian Tinniswood breathes life into the turbulent history of an entire century
—— Ross King, author of Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling and Brunelleschi's DomeAdrian Tinniswood's The Verneys takes us on a fascinating grand tour through a world turned upside down. It is an intimate, engaging, and richly rewarding book, showing the seventeenth century in all its splendor and brutality
—— David King, author of When the World Came to Town and Finding AtlantisHow eloquently Mak rails against the alliance of consumerism and bureaucracy! ... He has a great eye for telling detail... Only a powerful, humane and serious mind could give coherence to mass detail which, however arresting piece by piece, would otherwise soon become wearying... as much a journey around Geert Mak's head as it is a journey around Europe
—— GuardianFascinating
—— David V Barrett , Independent