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This series includes accounts of historical events and movements by eye-witnesses and contemporaries, as well as landmark studies that assembled significant source materials or developed new historiographical methods. It covers the social and political history of continental Europe from the Renaissance to the end of the nineteenth century, and its broad range includes works on Russia and the Balkans, revolutionary France, the Papacy and the inquisition, and the Venetian state archives.

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199 results in Cambridge Library Collection - European History

Page 5 of 10

Histoire de la Révolution Française
  • Volume 6
  • Louis Blanc
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    03 November 2011
    First published in:
    1864
  • Louis Blanc (1811–82) was a French historian and politician whose writings had a considerable influence on the development of French socialism. In his famous Organisation du travail (1839) he called for social reform by action of the State, an unusual position at the time. As a member of the provisional government established after the 1848 Revolution, he campaigned for workers' rights, advocating the creation of cooperative workshops. His twelve-volume Histoire de la Révolution Française (1847–62), most of which he wrote while in exile in England, combines years of thorough research with Blanc's characteristic socialist and republican enthusiasm. Volume 6, first published in 1864, deals with the elections of 1791 and the ensuing period of constitutional crisis. It describes the months leading up to the war with Austria, and culminates with the invasion of the Tuileries Palace by the people on 20 June 1892.

A Turkish Woman's European Impressions
  • Zeyneb Hanoum
  • Edited by Grace Ellison
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    07 June 2012
    First published in:
    1913
  • Zeyneb Hanoum (who died c.1923) and her sister Melek fled Turkey in 1906, at a time when women's freedom was severely restricted. This book, first published in 1913, is a collection of letters written by Zeyneb to her friend, feminist journalist Grace Ellison. As well as discussing the political situation in Turkey, Hanoum compares the life of Turkish women with their European counterparts and presents a more balanced view of real harem life. Witty and forthright, the author shares her opinions on strange Western phenomena such as tennis, snobbery and the poor quality of English food. She also offers views on the suffragette movement and muses on the freedoms enjoyed by women in the West. The author's outsider status provides fascinating insights into European culture and such diverse experiences as tea at the House of Commons and bullfighting. This remains an entertaining and touching travelogue from a unique viewpoint.

The Makers of Florence
  • Dante, Giotto, Savonarola; and their City
  • Margaret Oliphant
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    23 August 2012
    First published in:
    1876
  • An influential and prolific Victorian author, Margaret Oliphant (1828–97) is best remembered for her 'Chronicles of Carlingford' - novels which sketch the religious and domestic politics of a provincial community - particularly the most popular in the cycle, Miss Marjoribanks (1866), and for her many book reviews, essays and serialised fiction for Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine. Her output included ninety-eight novels, some fifty short stories, works of biography and non-fiction, and a series of cultural histories of European cities, of which this is the first. Originally published in 1876, the book paints a vivid picture of the cultural development of the great city of Florence during the Renaissance through biographical sketches of its key figures. They include Dante, Giotto, Savonarola, and 'he who stands alone amongst the crowd': Michelangelo. Written in an engaging style and illustrated throughout with many fine engravings, this is a work of lasting interest and popular appeal.

The Life and Letters of Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq
  • Seigneur of Bousbecque, Knight, Imperial Ambassador
  • Volume 2
  • Ogier Ghislain de Busbecq
  • Edited and translated by Charles Thornton Foster, F. H. Blackburne Daniell
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    09 August 2012
    First published in:
    1881
  • Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq (1522–92) was a Flemish herbalist, diplomat and writer. In 1554, Ferdinand I, soon to be Holy Roman Emperor, dispatched him to Suleiman the Magnificent's court as an ambassador to the Ottoman empire, where Busbecq spent years negotiating a border dispute between his employer and the sultan. While there, he also discovered important manuscripts and sent the first tulip bulbs to Europe. He returned to Vienna in 1562, where he acted as counsellor to Ferdinand, after whose death he continued to serve the Habsburgs. This two-volume work, first published in 1881, contains Busbecq's letters, edited and translated into English from Latin by two Cambridge scholars. Volume 2 contains letters written in France to the Holy Roman Emperors Maximilian II and Rudolph II, and an index and appendix to both volumes, the latter including Busbecq's itineraries and a helpful outline of Hungarian history.

Siberia and the Exile System
  • Volume 1
  • George Kennan
  • Published online:
    05 April 2013
    Print publication:
    26 April 2012
    First published in:
    1891
  • The American journalist George Kennan (1854–1924) spent many years travelling in and writing about Russia. After the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881, Kennan wanted to go to Siberia to examine the penal system and the punishment of political exiles. In this unflinching account, published in two volumes in 1891, Kennan gives vivid descriptions, accompanied by extensive illustrations of the prisons and labour camps and the harsh lives of the people forced to live there. This journey also led to a personal transformation for Kennan himself - he started out as a supporter of the tsarist government but when he returned to the United States, he had become an advocate of political revolution in Russia. In Volume 1, he inspects the overcrowded holding prison of Tyumen, where everyone banished to Siberia was forced to stay before redeployment, and he later speaks to some political exiles.

Turkey and the Crimean War
  • A Narrative of Historical Events
  • Adolphus Slade
  • Published online:
    05 April 2013
    Print publication:
    26 April 2012
    First published in:
    1867
  • Published in 1867, this book discusses the Crimean War from a pro-Turkish perspective. Sir Adolphus Slade (1804–77) covers the history of Ottoman military development as well as the origins of the Eastern Question, and the events leading to the outbreak of war. As a naval officer, whose Records of Travels in Turkey, Greece, &c., and of a Cruize in the Black Sea, with the Capitan Pasha is also reissued in this series, he was lent to the Turkish fleet in 1849 and took the name Mushaver Pasha. For seventeen years he worked to overhaul the navy, especially the defences of the Bosphorus, and his successes made him impatient with the allied French and British fleets. In 1854, an argument with their Admirals led to his removal from active service, and to a bitterness reflected in this book, which nevertheless provides a fascinating perspective on the war's diplomatic and military complexities.

Siberia and the Exile System
  • Volume 2
  • George Kennan
  • Published online:
    05 April 2013
    Print publication:
    26 April 2012
    First published in:
    1891
  • The American journalist George Kennan (1854–1924) spent many years travelling in and writing about Russia. After the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881, Kennan wanted to go to Siberia to examine the penal system and the punishment of political exiles. In this unflinching account, published in two volumes in 1891, Kennan gives vivid descriptions, accompanied by extensive illustrations of the prisons and labour camps and the harsh lives of the people forced to live there. This journey also led to a personal transformation for Kennan himself - he started out as a supporter of the tsarist government but when he returned to the United States, he had become an advocate of political revolution in Russia. In Volume 2, he travels to the infamous convict mines of the Trans-Baikal region, and also discusses the extensive police surveillance system he observed while in Russia.

Recollections of the Emperor Napoleon
  • During the First Three Years of his Captivity on the Island of St. Helena
  • Elizabeth Balcombe Abell
  • Published online:
    05 September 2012
    Print publication:
    03 November 2011
    First published in:
    1846
  • After Napoleon Bonaparte's defeat at Waterloo (1815), the British government exiled him to the island of St Helena, where he forged a friendship with Betsy Balcombe (later Abell, 1802–71), the thirteen-year-old daughter of the government official in whose premises he stayed while Longwood House was being prepared as his residence. In these vivid memoirs, first published in 1844, Abell recalls her time spent with Napoleon, painting a portrait of a humorous and boyish character, of whom she was initially afraid, but then came to view as a friend and companion. Recounting his arrival, his opinions on music, wine and religion, his thoughts on his surrender and his battle tactics, his way of life, and his departure for his permanent incarceration at Longwood, Abell's recollections, which offer an unusual view of one of the most significant figures of modern history, have since inspired many documentaries, dramas and children's stories.

Relazioni degli ambasciatori Veneti al senato
  • Appendice
  • Edited by Eugenio Albèri
  • Published online:
    05 July 2012
    Print publication:
    02 February 2012
    First published in:
    1863
  • These editions of reports sent back by Venetian ambassadors to the Great Council of the Republic in the sixteenth century were edited by Eugenio Albèri (1807–78) and published between 1839 and 1863. As Albèri notes in his preface, a law of 1296 decreed that all embassies and legations should submit a written report to the Council at the end of their mission, and the surviving records provide an invaluable resource for both political and economic historians. The fifteen volumes are divided into three series, on relations with European states outside Italy; with other Italian states; and with the Ottoman Empire. The final volume in the series, published in 1863, is an appendix containing a preface outlining the history of the reports; a chronology of the sixteenth century; genealogies of the ruling families; additional material for each of the three series; and a chronological index of the ambassadors.

The History of the French Revolution
  • Volume 4
  • Adolphe Thiers
  • Edited and translated by Frederick Shoberl
  • Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    10 November 2011
    First published in:
    1838
  • Marie-Louis-Adolphe Thiers (1797–1877) was a prominent figure in a turbulent period in French history. Described by Karl Marx as a 'monstrous gnome' and condemned by the left for suppressing the Paris Commune of 1871, he enjoyed a controversial political career, but it is for his epic Histoire de la Révolution Française that he is chiefly remembered today. It was first published in French in ten volumes between 1823 and 1827, and in 1838 Frederic Shoberl's English translation made it a staple of British bookshelves. Consolidated into five volumes and illustrated with an array of engravings, this edition presents readers with a history of events spanning more than a decade of revolution and war, and remains one of the most comprehensive accounts of the French Revolution. Volume 4 begins with the consequences of Robespierre's downfall and concludes with an analysis of Napoleon's Italian victories in 1796.

A History of Servia, and the Servian Revolution
  • Leopold von Ranke
  • Translated by Louisa Hay Kerr
  • Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    16 February 2012
    First published in:
    1847
  • The German historian Leopold von Ranke (1795–1886) is considered a founder of modern source-based history, introducing ideas such as reliance on primary sources, emphasis on narrative history and international perspectives. (His works on the history of England and the on papacy are also reissued in this series.) While historiography and empiricism, as practised by Ranke, are now considered outdated, his emphasis on primary sources and the use of quotations to illustrate arguments remains hugely influential. First published in German in 1829, this work was based on eye-witness accounts of the Serbian Uprising of 1804, and was one of the first modern works on the Balkan nation. The early chapters review the history of the Serbs from the ninth century CE, to contextualise the chapters on the sixteenth-century Ottoman conquest and subsequent rule. This translation, published in 1847, is based on the second German edition of 1844.

Rapport historique sur les progrès de l'histoire et de la littérature ancienne depuis 1789, et sur leur état actuel
  • Edited by Bon-Joseph Dacier
  • Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    03 November 2011
    First published in:
    1810
  • In 1808, Napoleon I (1769–1821), Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815, commissioned a series of reports on the progress of scientific research since 1789. Published in 1810, this report on the current state of history and classical literature was edited by the French historian, philologist and colleague of Champollion, Bon-Joseph Dacier (1742–1833). The translator of Xenophon's Cyropaedia (1777) and other classical texts, Dacier was elected to the Académie Française in 1822. The report provides an introduction by Dacier himself and an overview of works published in Europe between 1789 and 1808. The remainder of the book was written by experts, such as the Orientalist Silvestre de Sacy (1758–1838) on oriental languages and literatures, and the architect Louis Visconti (1791–1853) on philology and antiquities. It also includes contributions on ancient, medieval and modern history, and on philosophy.

Relazioni degli ambasciatori Veneti al senato
  • Volume 9
  • Edited by Eugenio Albèri
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    02 February 2012
    First published in:
    1855
  • These editions of reports sent back by Venetian ambassadors to the Great Council of the Republic in the sixteenth century were edited by Eugenio Albèri (1807–78) and published between 1839 and 1863. As Albèri notes in his preface, a law of 1296 decreed that all embassies and legations should submit a written report to the Council at the end of their mission, and the surviving records provide an invaluable resource for both political and economic historians. The fifteen volumes are divided into three series, on relations with European states outside Italy; with other Italian states; and with the Ottoman Empire. Volume 9 (Volume 3 of the third series), published in 1855, was compiled by Vincenzo Lazari (1823–64), director of the Correr Museum, and includes a history of the baili (permanent Venetian ambassadors in Istanbul) as well as the reports they submitted throughout the sixteenth century.

History of the Greek Revolution
  • Volume 2
  • Thomas Gordon
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    02 February 2012
    First published in:
    1832
  • Thomas Gordon (1788–1841), a British army officer and philhellene, was actively involved in the Greek struggle for independence during the period 1821–8. This two-volume work, published in 1833, provides a comprehensive account of the Greek Revolution, portraying the war 'as it really was' and describing atrocities perpetrated by both sides. In his preface, Gordon acknowledges that the contest between the Greeks and the Turks has been written about a great deal. He sets out his aims to 'clear away exaggeration, rectify errors and anachronisms, and supply omissions', and he draws upon insights gained from having lived and fought for several years in Greece. Volume 2 continues the narrative until the decisive defeat of the Turkish fleet by the European allies at Navarino in 1827, but ends on a note of caution that wider European diplomatic manoeuvres may delay the establishment of an independent Greek government.

Relazioni degli ambasciatori Veneti al senato
  • Volume 14
  • Edited by Eugenio Albèri
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    02 February 2012
    First published in:
    1862
  • These editions of reports sent back by Venetian ambassadors to the Great Council of the Republic in the sixteenth century were edited by Eugenio Albèri (1807–78) and published between 1839 and 1863. As Albèri notes in his preface, a law of 1296 decreed that all embassies and legations should submit a written report to the Council at the end of their mission, and the surviving records provide an invaluable resource for both political and economic historians. The fifteen volumes are divided into three series, on relations with European states outside Italy; with other Italian states; and with the Ottoman Empire. Volume 14 (Volume 6 of the first series), published in 1862, contains reports dating from 1507 to 1596, mostly about relations with 'Germania', the Holy Roman Empire, from the time of Maximilian I to the diplomatic manoeuvring over the succession to the throne of Poland in the 1580s.

Relazioni degli ambasciatori Veneti al senato
  • Volume 8
  • Edited by Eugenio Albèri
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    02 February 2012
    First published in:
    1853
  • These editions of reports sent back by Venetian ambassadors to the Great Council of the Republic in the sixteenth century were edited by Eugenio Albèri (1807–78) and published between 1839 and 1863. As Albèri notes in his preface, a law of 1296 decreed that all embassies should submit a written report to the Council at the end of their mission, and the surviving records provide an invaluable resource for both political and economic historians. The fifteen volumes are divided into three series, on relations with European states outside Italy; with other Italian states; and with the Ottoman Empire. Volume 8 (Volume 3 of the first series), published in 1853, contains reports dating from 1531 to 1559, with an appendix on Spain in 1853. An account of England includes an admiring description of Queen Catherine, at the time when Henry VIII was already attempting to have their marriage annulled.

Relazioni degli ambasciatori Veneti al senato
  • Volume 7
  • Edited by Eugenio Albèri
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    02 February 2012
    First published in:
    1846
  • These editions of reports sent back by Venetian ambassadors to the Great Council of the Republic in the sixteenth century were edited by Eugenio Albèri (1807–78) and published between 1839 and 1863. As Albèri notes in his preface, a law of 1296 decreed that all embassies and legations should submit a written report to the Council at the end of their mission, and the surviving records provide an invaluable resource for political and economic historians. The fifteen volumes are divided into three series, on relations with European states outside Italy; with other Italian states; and with the Ottoman Empire. Volume 7 (Volume 3 of the second series), published in 1846, contains reports from ambassadors to the papacy in the first half of the sixteenth century. A formal visit in 1523 is enlivened by sight-seeing: Roman churches and newly unearthed antiquities, such as the 'Laocoon', are described.

Paris in Peril
  • Volume 2
  • Henry Vizetelly
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    24 November 2011
    First published in:
    1882
  • Henry Vizetelly (1820–94), whose two-volume Glances Back through Seventy Years is also reissued in this collection, was an English journalist based in Paris during the Franco-Prussian War, which concluded with the downfall of Napoleon III and the end of the second French Empire. First published in 1882, this is the second in a two-volume collection of his writings during this turbulent period. Describing the effects of the blockade of Paris on the civilian population as well as the army, he praises the continuing bravery of the French even in the face of inevitable defeat. In an interesting epilogue, he holds the French General Trochu's 'frivolous' approach accountable for the fall of Paris to the much better led Prussian army. Caricatures of the day depicted Trochu as a donkey restraining the lions of the French army - an image which was used again to great effect during the First World War.

The Salon of Madame Necker
  • Volume 2
  • Gabriel Paul Othenin de Cléron Comte d'Haussonville
  • Translated by Henry M. Trollope
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    08 December 2011
    First published in:
    1882
  • Suzanne Curchod (1737–94) was living at Lausanne when she agreed to marry the young Edward Gibbon, but the engagement was broken off. Employed as companion to the then fiancée of Jacques Necker (1732–1804), later the finance minister of Louis XVI, she married him in 1764. Their only daughter, Anne Louise Germaine, is better known as Madame de Staël. Madame Necker was eager for her husband, a wealthy banker, to pursue a political career, but Jacques Necker's efforts towards financial reform made him unpopular at court, and his dismissal in July 1789 was one of the triggers for the French Revolution. His subsequent failure to control events led to his retirement to Switzerland in 1790. Volume 2 of this biography, written by a descendant, the comte d'Haussonville, and published in English in 1882, covers the events leading to the Revolution, and the exile and death of Madame Necker.

A History of the Papacy during the Period of the Reformation
  • Volume 2, The Council of Basel – The Papal Restoration, 1418–1464
  • Mandell Creighton
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    01 December 2011
    First published in:
    1882
  • Mandell Creighton's five-volume study of the papacy during the Reformation was first published between 1882 and 1894. Lytton Strachey paid an indirect compliment to Creighton's work by remarking that 'the biscuit is certainly dry; but at any rate there are no weevils'. Creighton (1843–1901) was an academic and an ordained Anglican. Having studied at Oxford and spent time in the parish of Embleton in Northumberland, he was appointed the first Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Cambridge, became Bishop of Peterborough and ended his career as Bishop of London. Volume 2 (1882) focuses on the controversial Council of Basel (1431–49) and its struggle with Eugenius IV over the crucial issue of papal authority as against both conciliar rule and the secular powers of Europe. The volume ends with the death in 1464 of Pius II.

Page 5 of 10