Changes

If there's a criticism which stops a book this informative from reaching the five -star mark for me personally, it's that it's slightly hard-going at times because of the length and because the author's style can occasionally be just a tad too dry. It's Its value is also perhaps slightly reduced for the casual reader simply because a fairly strong knowledge of European history at the time is needed to get the most out of it. Nevertheless , this is a book which I'm extremely happy to recommend to all serious history buffs, particularly since theintroduction ties the events into the current 'War on Terror' and the closing stages of the book show how the 19th -century happenings led to 20th -century events such as the two World Wars.

Further reading suggestion: If you're interested in how events around a hundred years ago are still affecting us today, [[A Senseless Squalid War: Voices From Palestine 1890s - 1948 by Norman Rose]] is a stunning book. You could shelve this alongside [[Culture and Society 1780-1950 by Raymond Williams]].