I read this one for a university course on 19th century European history.. It's not bad. There are a lot of details and plenty of information, but it's hard to digest it all, especially since there's no real indication of whether or not certain events are more significant than others. I wish the author included a summary at the beginning of each chapter which identified the key concepts and historical events. The author throws out dates and names and mentions events without really defining or explaining them first. He made references to things that didn't come up in the text previously, which, as someone without a history background, I found really confusing. So all in all, this is a comprehensive text, as far as I can tell, but I think it's best read as a supplement to introductory material on the topic, as it can be somewhat confusing and overwhelming if you're new to the subject. ( )