Vanished Kingdoms: The Rise And Fall Of States And Nations

Description

From the bestselling author of "Europe: A History" comes a uniquely ambitious masterpiece that will thrill fans of lost civilizations While Germany, Italy, France, and England dominate our conceptions of Europe, these modern states are relatively recent constructs. In this brilliant work of historical reconstruction, Norman Davies brings back to life the long-forgotten empire of Aragon, which once controlled the Western Mediterranean; the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, once the largest country in Europe, and the Kingdom of the Rock, founded by ancient Britons when neither England nor Scotland existed. In the tradition of Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs, and Steel," Davies subverts our established view of the past and urges us to reconsider the impetus for the rise and fall of nations.

Reviews

"Hugely ambitious . . . From the mists, Mr. Davies summons the kingdoms; he records their emergence, their flowering and their demise--whether by 'internall diseases' or 'forraign warre' in Thomas Hobbes's words. And he examines the traces that the kingdoms have left behind, in works of art or a piece of rock or perhaps just a place name."--"The Wall Street Journal"

Author description

Norman Davies is the bestselling author of several acclaimed books, including "Europe: A History"; "Rising '44: The Battle for Warsaw"; and "No Simple Victory: World War II in Europe, 1939-1945." He lives in Oxford, England, and Cracow, Poland.