Fully revised, updated and extended to include the momentous developments of 2020, this fourth edition of Peter Rietbergen''s highly acclaimed Europe: A Cultural History is a major and original contribution to the study of Europe.
The book examines the structures of culture in this part of Eurasia from the beginnings of human settlement on to the genesis of agricultural society, of greater polities, of urban systems, and the slow transitions that resulted in a (post-)industrial society and the individualistic mass culture of the present. Using both economic and socio-political analytical concepts, the volume outlines cultural continuity and change in Europe through the lenses of literature, the arts, science, technology and music, to show the continent''s ever-changing identities. In a highly readable style, it expertly contextualizes such diverse and wide-ranging topics as Celtic society, the Roman legal system, the oppositions between ''elite'' and ''popular'' cultu
