Syllabus for PS254 & 354
Essentials of Modern History for
International Relations
Professor Charles Lipson
OVERVIEW: EUROPEAN HISTORY
Two well-written, upper-level texts -- read in sequence -- provide an excellent background and
general setting for the events discussed in this class. I strongly recommend them both.
Koenigsberger starts at roughly the same time as this course and ends with the French
Revolution. The Fox book essentially begins with the French Revolution (he has a little material on the earlier period) and goes up through the Cold War.
A third book, by the distinguished economic historian Rondo Cameron, provides an excellent
companion overview of economic history for the entire modern period.
Two excellent surveys by Larry H. Addington provide a basic background on war-fighting. William McNeill's book can be read as an alternative or supplement to Addington.
Finally, The Times Atlas of European History not only provides excellent maps, it has brief essays on the major events of European history. It is a wonderful reference work.
H. G. Koenigsberger, Early Modern Europe 1500-1789 (London: Longman, 1987).
D208.K640 Gen Harp
Edward Whiting Fox, The Emergence of the Modern World (Cambridge, MA and Oxford,
UK: Basil Blackwell, 1991).
D102.F690 Gen Harp
Rondo Cameron, A Concise Economic History of the World: From Paleolithic Times to
the Present 2nd ed. (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993).
HC21.C330 1993 (2nd ed.)
HC21.C332 1989 Harp
Larry H. Addington, The Patterns of War Through the Eighteenth Century (Bloomington,
IN: Indiana University Press, 1990).
U27.A2940 1990
Larry H. Addington, The Patterns of War Since the Eighteenth Century ( 2nd ed.;
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1994).
1st edition, 1984: U39.A330 1984 Harper
The Times Atlas of European History (London: Times Books, division of HarperCollins,
1994), relevant sections.
f D904.T564 1994
optional: William H. McNeill, The Pursuit of Power: Technology, Armed Force, and
Society since A.D. 1000 (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1982), pp. 63-184.
ÁU37.M380 Law
1490s TO THE DEFEAT OF NAPOLEON, 1815
H. G. Koenigsberger, Early Modern Europe 1500-1789 (London: Longman, 1987).
D208.K640 Gen Harp
Rondo Cameron, A Concise Economic History of the World: From Paleolithic Times to
the Present 2nd ed. (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993).
pp. 93-188 (in 1st edition, 1989) HC21.C330 1989
pp. (in 2nd edition, 1993) HC21.C330 1993
Larry H. Addington, The Patterns of War Through the Eighteenth Century (Bloomington,
IN: Indiana University Press, 1990).
U27.A2940 1990
William Doyle, The Old European Order, 1660-1880, 2nd ed. (New York and Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1992), pp. 5-70; 219-378.
D273.D690 Harper
The Times Atlas of European History (London: Times Books, division of HarperCollins,
1994), relevant sections.
f D904.T564 1994
optional: Robert I. Rotberg and Theodore K. Rabb, eds., The Origin and Prevention of
Major Wars (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1989).
U21.2.o720 1989 Gen Harp
optional: Kenneth N. Waltz, "The Origins of War in Neorealist Theory," in Rotberg and
Rabb, pp. 39-52.
optional: Jack S. Levy, "Domestic Politics and War," in Rotberg and Rabb, pp. 79-99.
optional: John F. Guilmartin, Jr., "Ideology and Conflict: The Wars of the Ottoman Empire,
1453-1606," in Rotberg and Rabb, pp. 149-75.
optional: Myron P. Gutmann, "The Origins of the Thirty Years' War," in Rotberg and
Rabb, pp. 177-98.
optional: Gunther E. Rothenberg, "The Origins, Causes, and Extension of the Wars of the
French Revolution and Napoleon," in Rotberg and Rabb, pp. 199-221.
19TH CENTURY: CONGRESS OF VIENNA (1814-15) TO WORLD WAR I (1914)
Norman Rich, Great Power Diplomacy, 1814-1914 (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1992), all.
D363.R450 1992
Larry H. Addington, The Patterns of War Since the Eighteenth Century ( 2nd ed.;
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1994).
1st edition, 1984: U39.A330 1984 Harper
Rondo Cameron, A Concise Economic History of the World: From Paleolithic Times to
the Present 2nd ed. (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993), pp. 189-321.
pp. 189-321 (in 1st edition, 1989) HC21.C330 1989
pp. (in 2nd edition, 1993) HC21.C330 1993
Edward Whiting Fox, The Emergence of the Modern World (Cambridge, MA and Oxford,
UK: Basil Blackwell, 1991), pp. 1-266.
The Times Atlas of European History (London: Times Books, division of HarperCollins,
1994), relevant sections.
f D904.T564 1994
optional: Samuel R. Williamson, Jr., "The Origins of World War I," in Rotberg and Rabb,
pp. 225-48.
U21.2.o720 1989 Gen Harp
optional: F. Roy Bridge and Roger Bullen, The Great Powers and the European States
System 1815-1914 (London: Longman, 1980), covers the same territory as Norman Rich
book but is much briefer.
D363.B750
OPTIONAL: INTER-WAR YEARS
(This period is not covered in this course, but may be relevant to your individual papers)
Graham Ross, The Great Powers and the Decline of the European States System
1914-1945 (London: Longman, 1983), all (a succinct and clear summary of the period).
D424.R660 1983
The Times Atlas of European History (London: Times Books, division of HarperCollins,
1994), relevant sections.
f D904.T564 1994
ourse Requirements in Detail
Required Books
1.Larry H. Addington, The Patterns of War Through the Eighteenth Century (Bloomington,
IN: Indiana University Press, 1990)
2.Larry H. Addington, The Patterns of War Since the Eighteenth Century (2nd ed.;
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1994).
3.Rondo Cameron, A Concise Economic History of the World: From Paleolithic Times to
the Present, (2nd ed.; New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993).
4.William Doyle, The Old European Order, 1660-1880, 2nd ed. (New York and Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1992).
5.Edward Whiting Fox, The Emergence of the Modern World (Cambridge, MA and Oxford,
UK: Basil Blackwell, 1991).
6.Norman Rich, Great Power Diplomacy, 1814-1914 (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1992).
7.The Times Atlas of European History (London: Times Books, a division of HarperCollins,
1994).
Recommended Books
1.F. Roy Bridge and Roger Bullen, The Great Powers and the European States System
1815-1914 (London: Longman, 1980).
2.William H. McNeill, The Pursuit of Power: Technology, Armed Force, and Society since
A.D. 1000 (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1982), pp. 63-184.
3.Robert I. Rotberg and Theodore K. Rabb, eds., The Origin and Prevention of Major Wars
(Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1989).