“‘The secret corps’ is thrilling in its every paragraph, and, speaking personally, it is the first book of the war we have enjoyed for two years.”
+ N Y Evening Post p13 D 31 ’20 170w
“This volume has value unsurpassed, if not unequaled, by any other that has dealt with the same material.”
+ N Y Times p26 Ja 30 ’21 420w
Reviewed by E. L. Pearson
Review 3:229 S 15 ’20 340w Spec 124:872 Je 26 ’20 160w
TURNER, EDWARD RAYMOND. Europe, 1789–1920. *$3.50 Doubleday 940.2
20–17882
The raison d’être of the book is the alteration in historical perspective wrought by the last few years which makes the epoch since 1789 “the most important and interesting in the history of mankind. It began with a revolution whose effects are not yet all measured; it ended with another whose consequences can scarcely yet even be guessed at.” (Preface) During this period immense changes took place in the relations of people with each other, with their governments, with capitalists and employers, in the attitude of people toward the problems of the world in which they lived, and in their habits of thought. The book falls into two parts: 1789–1871; and 1871–1920. The outstanding points of part one are the old Europe before, during and after the French revolution, the Congress of Vienna, the rise of Prussia after 1870 and the condition of Russia during the period. Part two begins with the military triumphs of Germany between 1864–1871, its subsequent development and that of the other great powers, and treats of events before and during the great war. There are numerous maps, a bibliography at the end of each chapter, an appendix and an index.