Bücher der Reihe Cambridge Library Collection - European History

The philhellene George Finlay (1799-1875) took part in the Greek war of independence alongside Lord Byron. Finlay's two-volume 1861 account ranges from Greece under Ottoman control, through independence, and up to the 1843 unrest that led to the creation of a constitutional monarchy.

This two-volume work, published in 1930-4, is a remarkable and readable overview of the emergence of modern society in the wake of the Protestant reformation. Its starting point is the scientific revolution which, from the mid-sixteenth century, became the driver of rapidly evolving cultural, social and political changes.

This two-volume work by the historian Julia Pardoe (1804-62), published in 1849, attempts to remove the accretions of myth which have clung to Francis I and to his court. Volume 1 begins with Francis' accession in 1515, discusses his Italian wars, and ends with the death of Bayard in 1524.

Between 1515 and 1519, Sebastian Giustinian (1460-1543) served as the Venetian ambassador to the court of Henry VIII. This two-volume work, published in 1854, contains his dispatches to the Signory of Venice, translated with an introduction and detailed notes by the scholar Rawdon Lubbock Brown (1806-83).

This three-volume study of Madame de Stael (1766-1817) by Charlotte Blennerhassett (1843-1917) was published in English in 1889, translated from German. An authoritative account of the novelist, intellectual and renowned salonniere, it remains of great value to scholars interested in the French Revolution and its aftermath.

This two-volume work, first published in 1881, contains the translated letters of Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq (1522-92), a Flemish herbalist, diplomat and writer who acted as Austrian ambassador to the Ottoman empire. Volume 1 contains an introduction to Busbecq's life, and his Turkish Letters.

Nathaniel Wraxall (1751-1831) travelled extensively in Europe and moved in royal and diplomatic circles. In this 1799 two-volume work in epistolary form, he recalls his visits to a number of courts in the late 1770s. In Volume 1 he visits German principalities before continuing on to Vienna and Cracow.

Philippe-Paul, Comte de Segur (1780-1873) served on Napoleon's personal staff during the Russian campaign. His history of the campaign was published in 1824, and this English translation in 1825. Volume 1 contains an account of the course of the war up to the battle of Borodino.

This five-volume work by Mandell Creighton (1843-1901) was first published between 1882 and 1894. Volume 1 (1882) describes the developments within the Catholic church that led to the exile of the popes in Avignon and the Council of Constance (1378-1418).

The American journalist and expert on Russia George Kennan (1854-1924) went to Siberia to examine the infamous tsarist penal system there, and this vivid account was published in two volumes in 1891. In Volume 1 Kennan visits the holding prison of Tyumen and talks to political exiles.

Thomas Gordon (1788-1841), a British army officer, was actively involved in the Greek struggle for independence during the revolution of 1821-8. This two-volume work, published in 1833 and drawing upon his extensive personal experiences, provides a comprehensive representation of the Greek Revolution 'as it really was'.

This is a classic account of the foundation of the Dutch Republic by American historian John Lothrop Motley (1814-77). The first edition of the three-volume work was first published in 1855 to great popular acclaim and was quickly translated into French, Dutch, German and Russian.

This classic four-volume history of the Netherlands from American historian John Lothrop Motley (1814-77), published 1860-7, covers the period from the assassination of William the Silent to the Treaty of Antwerp (1609), which imposed a truce of twelve years between Spain and the Netherlands.

First published in 1882, this is the first of two volumes by Henry Vizetelly on the German siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War. His eye-witness account reveals the devastation that resulted from the siege and the consequent near-starvation in the city.

Published between 1829 and 1832, this five-volume history of 'civilisation in France' from the end of the Roman Empire to 1789 focuses on the medieval period. Volume 1 contains twelve lectures on early medieval Gaul from the fifth to eighth centuries.

Suzanne Curchod (1737-94) married Jacques Necker (1732-1804), later the finance minister of Louis XVI, in 1764; their daughter was Madame de Stael. This biography, written by a descendant, the comte d'Haussonville, and published in 1882, describes her life and her brilliant salon in pre-Revolutionary France.

Published in French between 1823 and 1827 and translated into English in 1838, this five-volume edition of Thiers' work became a staple of British bookshelves. Volume 1 leads readers from the 'cringing assemblies' of Louis XIV to the storming of the Tuileries in August 1792.

The writings of the French historian and politician Louis Blanc (1811-82) had a considerable influence on the development of French socialism. Volume 1 of this twelve-volume history, published in 1847, traces the intellectual origins of the French Revolution to the development of individualism in Protestantism and the Enlightenment.

This pioneering eight-volume study of the French Revolution (published 1893-1921) was the first to apply nineteenth-century historicist methods to this subject. Aulard's work included thorough evaluation of his sources and critical commentary on earlier accounts. Volume 4 focuses on Georges Jacques Danton, a leading figure in the early Revolution.

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) is best remembered for establishing the First French Empire and his part in the Napoleonic Wars. These volumes, first published in 1884, contain translations of a selection of Bonaparte's letters, providing a valuable resource for the study of his life. Volume 1 covers 1796-1802.

Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) was a prolific Scottish writer and historical novelist. These volumes, first published in 1827, contain Scott's detailed biography of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), in which Scott focuses on Napoleon's legacy and achievements without bias. Volume 2 contains a review of the French Revolution, 1792-1795.

This in-depth history, published between 1940 and 1952, filled a void in scholarship on the Mediterranean. Each volume provides maps, photographs, and illustrations that complement the larger historical image of Cyprus that Hill presents. Together, his volumes explore and analyze a rich, complex, and at times controversial legacy.

Originally published in 1852, this three-volume work narrates the extraordinary life of Marie de Medicis, second wife of King Henry IV of France, and subsequently Regent for her son Louis XIII. The first volume of this highly intriguing and detailed work describes Marie's early life from 1572 until 1607.

Drawing on a wealth of manuscript and primary sources from across Europe, Ranke's history narrates and contextualises the fortunes of the papacy in one of its most tumultuous eras. Volume 1 presents the background and events leading up to that tempest and provides important notes from both translator and author.

Archibald Alison (1792-1867) was a deeply conservative Scottish historian who viewed political reform and democracy with suspicion. His History of Europe during the French Revolution was published after the Reform Act of 1832, and regarded the democratic ideals of the early revolutionaries as leading to Europe-wide anarchy.

From Milan to Verona, Venice to Rome, John Cam Hobhouse describes his experiences of travelling in Italy between 1816 and 1854. The two volumes provide fascinating insights into the people, places and politics of nineteenth-century Italy, and into the close relationship between Hobhouse and Lord Byron.

This history of late Tsarist Russia was first published in 1877; reissued here is the edition of 1912, the last to be updated by Donald Mackenzie Wallace. He stayed in Russia for six years, studying the people and their vast country: this influential and still relevant work was the result.

Count Pietro Gamba (1801-27) accompanied Byron on his mission to Greece in 1823, and was described by the poet as 'one of the most amiable, brave, and excellent young men' he had ever encountered. This eyewitness account of the mission and of Byron's death was published in 1825.

Of the many accounts of Lord Byron's mission to Greece and his death at Missolonghi in 1824, very few were by eyewitnesses. This 1825 book by William Parry (1773-1859) is an important and detailed narrative of Byron's last days and death, and of the creation of a myth.

Edward Blaquiere (1779-1832) was influenced by the liberal philosophy of Jeremy Bentham, and in 1823 helped form the London Greek Committee to raise money for the Greek war of independence. In this 1824 book, Blaquiere describes recent events in Greece, emphasising his credentials as an eyewitness.