{"product_id":"vanished-kingdoms-the-history-of-half-forgotten-europe","title":"Vanished Kingdoms: The History of Half-Forgotten Europe","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Norman Davies has the gift of all great historians - the ability to make us rethink the past' \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 'The past is a foreign country' has become a truism, yet we often forget that the past is different from the present in many unfamiliar ways, and historical memory is extraordinarily imperfect. We habitually think of the European past as the history of countries which exist today - France, Germany, Britain, Russia and so on - but often this actually obstructs our view of the past, and blunts our sensitivity to the ever-changing political landscape.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eEurope's history is littered with kingdoms, duchies, empires and republics which have now disappeared but which were once fixtures on the map of their age - 'the Empire of Aragon' which once dominated the western Mediterranean; the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, for a time the largest country in Europe; the successive kingdoms (and one duchy) of Prussia, much of whose history is now half-remembered at best. This book shows the reader how to peer through the cracks of mainstream history writing and listen to the echoes of lost realms across the centuries.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eHow many British people know that Glasgow was founded by the Welsh in a period when neither England nor Scotland existed? How many of us will remember the former Soviet Union in a few generations' time? Will our own United Kingdom become a distant memory too? As in his earlier celebrated books\u003ci\u003eEurope- aAhistory\u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Isles\u003c\/i\u003e, Norman Davies aims to subvert our established view of what seems familiar, and urges us to look and think again. This stimulating surprising book, full of unexpected stories, observations and connections, gives us a fresh and original perspective on the history of Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"sb-details\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/norman-davies-books\"\u003eNorman Davies\u003c\/a\u003e (all their books in stock)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFormat:\u003c\/strong\u003e Hardback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublished:\u003c\/strong\u003e 2011\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 830\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/strong\u003e Allen Lane\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eISBN:\u003c\/strong\u003e 9781846143380\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen Lane","offers":[{"title":"Poor Condition — £1.70","offer_id":47917738852529,"sku":"SB-1846143381-C4","price":1.7,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/2669\/5345\/files\/1846143381.jpg?v=1789161560","url":"https:\/\/sellbooks.co.uk\/products\/vanished-kingdoms-the-history-of-half-forgotten-europe","provider":"Sell Books .co.uk","version":"1.0","type":"link"}