A people's history of modern Europe

Following Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States (1980; reissue ed., 2015) and Chris Harman's A People's History of the World (1999), Pelz's tome focuses on the significance of the commoner's role in modern European history. The author provides endnotes that show his variety of primary sources, and his book offers readers interesting stories that they would find only in key monographs. There are, however, a few weaknesses with this book. In his introduction, Pelz (Elgin Community College) maintains that his book "offers a concise, readable alternative to mainstream textbooks." Yes, his book is concise--much too concise. Where Zinn's and Harman's books total approximately 700 and 600 pages of narrative text, respectively, Pelz provides just over 200 pages. The author cannot cover modern Europe sufficiently in this short space. Given that he provides little context for his history from below, his book is not an "alternative" to a mainstream textbook. Pelz begins in the early modern era, but he allocates one-half of his book to the 20th century. Students of history can utilize his book as a supplementary source only. Summing Up: Optional. Undergraduate and graduate collections. --Brenda Louise Gaydosh, West Chester University of Pennsylvania