|
|
|
Reviews
| Crossroads of European Histories: Multiple Outlooks on Five Key Moments in the History of Europe, edited by Robert Stradling. Belgium: Council on Europe Publishing, 2006. 350 pages. $53.00, paper.
|
| The published result of five conference planned in 2002, Crossroads of European Histories: Multiple Outlooks on Five Key Moments in the History of Europe analyzes five key periods in European history: 1848, 1912–13, 1919, 1945, and 1989. Each year is devoted its own part of the book with six to nine chapters, each with different authors whose contributions focus on a particular country. The result is a very interesting and unique resource that not only analyzes the events of a particular year, but looks at them through different lenses. Like many sources that are composed of multiple authors and articles, the quality and usefulness of articles vary greatly. |
1
|
|
One particularly interesting chapter early in the book is Peter Bahari's "The Hungarian Revolution of 1848 and its Consequences." It is essentially devoted to historiography and how 1848 has been celebrated over the years. For example, Bahari looks at how 1848 was treated before, during, and after the Cold War. Bahari's analysis of the revolution is interesting, as he makes the point that even through it failed, the Compromise of 1867 could not have been completed without the events of 1848. Teachers will find articles like this one very useful when teaching about particular content or about point of view in history. Bahari also provides academic fodder for classroom discussion. What classroom teacher upon reading the article, for example, would not ask students to analyze Bahari's assertion about the connection between 1848 and 1867? |
2
|
|
Another chapter of note is Ivan Ilchev's "The Great War and the Treaty of Neuilly: Real and Imaginary Legacies in the Public Debate in Bulgaria." Ilchev's chapter analyzes and explains some of the history of Bulgaria that is often absent in American schools. The chapter begins with the assertion that Bulgaria has been in the unique position of fighting in four wars between 1912 and 1947, and losing three of them. Most of the chapter analyzes the impact of the treaty on Bulgarians. It is also one of the chapters that provides a clear and unique perspective of a people. For example, Ilchev explains how the treaty left Bulgarians feeling (once again) as if they were not real Europeans. |
3
|
|
One final chapter worth noting, both because it is so different yet symbolic of the book as a whole, is Ruth Tudor's "Images of Women, 1914–20: the Ideals and Realities." Tudor examines posters from various countries and analyzes the extent to which they were realistic. The chapter is not typical in that most others do not use images, but in doing so, she provides solid instructional ideas for teachers. Her conclusion is that the images did not represent the reality of women's contribution to the war effort. Unfortunately, Tudor does not describe in enough detail just what the contributions of women were, and therein lies a significant problem with Crossroads as a whole. In approximately ten-page chapters, it is impossible to develop ideas as much as they should. It leaves many of the chapters "rushed" and also forces authors to assume, in some cases, significant historical content on the part of the reader. Strangely enough, this could quite easily leave a reader both rushed and bogged down in a ten-page chapter. |
4
|
|
There are other problems with Crossroads. In some cases, the book feels less like multiple outlooks and more like a history of various countries during the same year. Some chapters that are written about the same year seem unrelated, and instead of seeing multiple viewpoints on a particular issue, the reader might read what happened on the streets of Paris and Frankfurt in a given year without really seeing any comparison regarding perspectives. The most glaring problem of Crossroads, however, is its overall usefulness in non-higher educational settings. There is little that secondary school teachers will find to supplement their curriculum—little in the way of interesting historical anecdotes or ideas for class discussion. This serves to not only be disappointing, but it tends to make Crossroads seem tedious. In all fairness, there is an accompanying CD-ROM that is part of this Council of Europe project and might serve to enhance the usefulness of the book. However, Crossroads, at least on its own, is not worth the investment for secondary classroom use. |
5
|
| | |
| Whitman-Hanson Regional High School |
Robert Davidson |
|
Content in the History Cooperative database is intended for personal, noncommercial use only. You may not reproduce, publish, distribute, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, modify, create derivative works from, display, or in any way exploit the History Cooperative database in whole or in part without the written permission of the copyright holder.
|