Books like The Shortest History of Europe

Great book for a very high-level overview of the history of Europe. Mostly focused on the Roman Empire and its aftermath, up until the Industrial Revolution.Below are my reading notes.# Chapter 1Europe is a mix of people:- the Greeks, who thought the world was simple, logical, and mathematical- the Christians, who thought the world was evil with only Jesus to save them- and the Germans, who thought waging war was the greatestWhat happened when these groups came together?At first the Christians were persecuted but in 313, Constantine gave the Christians protection and later made Christianity the only state religion. So _the Romans became christian_.Then the christian religion changed as it grew. The Christians created a whole hierarchy of priests, bishops and archbishops—culminating with the Pope in Rome. This hierarchy had its own courts and dungeons and collaborated with the civil secular power of the emperor. Thus, _the Christians became more and more Roman_.The churches were on a path to catalog and systematize their knowledge and to that aim they hired the philosophers and thinkers of Rome and Greece. Therefore, _the Christian church became a custodian of Greek and Roman knowledge_.When Rome fell, the cities shrank and the hamlets became fiefs and local rulers held the real power. The king did not have much power and was lucky if he could assemble an army. The _German warriors moved closer to the church and eventually became Christians_.The Christian Church began revisiting the Greek and Roman texts and began writing a Christian literature that built upon these writings.The year is 1400 and this situation is about to break down.# Chapter 2The Renaissance is often portrayed as the re-discovery of Greek and Roman thinking but actually it is not so. The Renaissance began as people _outside the Church_ began studying the old pagan ways of the Greeks and Romans.Two movements began removing power from the Church: the Renaissance and the Reformation. The message of the Reformation was: _the Church is not Roman_.The Reformation was trying to extirpate the Roman Church from the Roman empire, to get back a Church as it used to be, before the merge.At the same time, the Renaissance thinkers were trying to extirpate the Greek and Roman knowledge from the Catholic Church.The scientific revolution was another force that would try to remove the Christian influence on science and knowledge. Interestingly, the scientists of the 17th century would contradict their Greek predecessors while still using the Greek methodology of mathematics. Yes, the _classics were now proved wrong_.Several movements began rising against the backdrop of the Renaissance. The Romantic movement is one that stated that _culture was in the art_ and in the passion of men and women: reason could not explain everything and certainly did not make life worth living.Around this time also came the idea that peoples should govern themselves and each nation should have its own government. This is the era of nationalism.# Chapter 3After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Europe was invaded by three groups: the Muslims in southern Spain, the Normans from the north, and the Ottomans in Anatolia. Constantinople fell to these Ottomans in 1453.The Europeans would eventually push back the Muslims in southern Spain. And they would incorporate Norman settlements into their own kingdoms.# Chapter 4As the Roman Empire began to expand, the governing of the state took a greater toll on the state finances. The empire increased taxes and forced shopkeepers to keep their prices the same—to fight inflation.Richt estate owners refused to pay taxes and harboured peasants working on their land. Fiefs began to form and the legitimacy and power of the Roman Emperor faded.# Chapter 5Gunpowder helped the monarchs to defend themselves against their own people as artillery was expensive and useful to batter cities.The European monarchs could justify the maintenance of an army because they fought with one another. However, in England, it was harder to justify an army and perhaps that helps explain the power of the parliament and the popular suspicion towards the rulers.# Chapter 6As the pope was afraid of a second wave of invasions by the Langobards, he turned to the ceasar in the Eastern Roman Empire but the caesar was busy fighting invaders. The pope then turned to the French king Pepin for help. The French king then successfully waged war against the barbarians and was then afraid that the pope would lay hands on land that was rightfully the king's. The king thus allowed the pope to keep only a small patch of territory around his living quarters. The state of the Vatican was born. # ConclusionIs Europe special? Perhaps. Perhaps it was just faster.In any case, it looks like various centers of power helped bring about change and revolutions that led to industrialization and progress. Other parts of the world, say China, were ruled by an omnipotent monarch and that probably slowed the pace of change.