Popular European Historical Books
Find historical books written by authors from Europe for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (132)
71.
Speak : A Short History of Languages by Tore Janson EN
SwedenDescription:
How does a language come into being, and when does it disappear? What actually happened to Latin? When was English created? Will all people on Earth speak English or Chinese in 200 years from now? These are a few of the questions discussed in A Short History of Languages. It is about how historical conditions shape languages and how languages influence the course of history. The book starts with a discussion of the period of gatherers and hunters, when there was a huge number of languges.It moves on to Greek and Latin, to French and Italian, and naturally includes a full discussion of English.... continue
72.
73.
Tauben im Gras : Roman by Wolfgang Koeppen DE
GermanyDescription:
»Koeppens Werk besteht, wie das von allen Schriftstellern, aus Büchern von sehr unterschiedlicher Bedeutung. Ich schätze besonders den frühen Roman Eine unglückliche Liebe, den Roman Der Tod in Rom und das Fragment Jugend. Für das allerwichtigste Buch von Koeppen halte ich den herrlichen Roman Tauben im Gras, veröffentlicht 1951 und nach wie vor viel zu wenig bekannt. Wer diesen Roman nicht gelesen hat, der solle nicht glauben, er kenne die deutsche Literatur nach 1945.« Marcel Reich-Ranicki
74.
The Atom Station by Halldór Laxness EN
IcelandDescription:
From the Nobel Prize–winning author of Independent People: A biting satire of post-WWII Iceland caught between superpowers at the dawn of the Nuclear Age. When the Americans make an offer to buy Icelandic land to build an atomic war base, a storm of protest is provoked throughout the country, and it is here that Laxness finds the catalyst for his story. Told by a country girl from the north, the novel follows her experiences upon taking up employment as a maid in the house of her Member of Parliament. She finds herself in a world very different to that of her upbringing and, marvelling at the ... continue
75.
The Black Sheep by Honore de Balzac, Honore Balzac EN
FranceDescription:
Philippe and Joseph Bridau are two extremely different brothers. The elder, Philippe, is a superficially heroic soldier and adored by their mother Agathe. He is nonetheless a bitter figure, secretly gambling away her savings after a brief but glorious career in Napoleon’s army. His younger brother Joseph, meanwhile, is fundamentally virtuous - but their mother is blinded to his kindness by her disapproval of his life as an artist. Foolish and prejudiced, Agathe lives on unaware that she is being cynically manipulated by her own favourite child, but will she ever discover which of her sons is t... continue
76.
The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas EN
Description:
This carefully crafted ebook: "THE BLACK TULIP (Historical Adventure Novel)” is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents. The story begins with the 1672 lynching of the Dutch Grand Pensionary Johan de Witt and his brother Cornelis by a wild mob of their own countrymen, considered by many as one of the most painful episodes in Dutch history, described by Dumas with a dramatic intensity. The city of Haarlem, Netherlands, has set a prize of ƒ100, 000 to the person who can grow a black tulip, sparking competition between the country's best gardeners to win the mo... continue
77.
The Body-Snatcher (Fantasy and Horror Classics) by Robert Louis Stevenson EN
Country: Europe / 
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Description:
Author of the timeless Treasure Island (1883), Robert Louis Stevenson is a hugely popular author, and one of the most translated in the world. First published in Pall Mall magazine in December of 1884, 'The Body-Snatcher' is based on characters in the employ of Robert Knox, around the time of the famous Burke and Hare murders. Many of the Gothic romance and horror stories, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and a... continue
78.
The Boy Between Worlds : A Biography by Annejet van der Zijl EN
Country: Europe / 
Netherlands
Netherlands
Description:
From the Amazon Charts bestselling author of An American Princess comes the true story of an unconventional family divided by war and prejudice during WWII. When they fell in love in 1928, Rika and Waldemar could not have been more different. She was a thirty-seven-year-old Dutch-born mother, estranged from her husband. He was her immigrant boarder, not yet twenty, and a wealthy Surinamese descendant of slaves. The child they have together, brown skinned and blue eyed, brings the couple great joy yet raises some eyebrows. Until the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands explodes their promising li... continue
79.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne EN
IrelandDescription:
Bruno doesn't like his new house. He had to leave all his friends behind in Berlin, and there are no children to play with here - until Bruno meets Shmuel, a boy who lives on the other side of the wire fence near Bruno's house, and who wears a strange uniform of striped pyjamas. A stunning anniversary edition of John Boyne's powerful classic bestseller, with illustrations from award-winning artist Oliver Jeffers.
80.
The Bridge on the Drina by Ivo Andrić EN
Country: Europe / 
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Description:
Chronicle of three centuries of Balkan life, centering around a great stone bridge in present-day Yugoslavia.