Hi! Glad you're taking an interest in history. SO, you like Europe but don't know where to start. I'll give you a good list to get started but we have to cover two things first: Historical Interpretation and Historiography.

History isn't an exact retelling of the past, instead, it is an argument about the past; this is because we only have a certain number of sources and they don't all line up perfectly and they are all biased. Therefore the historian's job is to take a look at these sources and compare them to one another and tease out the truth as best as possible. The facts and truths are just that--facts and truths--they don't mean anything on their own. Julius Caesar is assassinated in 44 BCE. Big deal. What does it mean? This what the historian tries to explain! After uncovering facts and truths from the sources, these are then lined up into a narrative of whatever event they are studying, and in the process of creating a narrative, the historian interprets the facts in a way that makes sense.

In the process of interpretation, the historian has an argument about the past they are trying to make: Edward Gibbon looked at the third through sixth centuries and to him, the facts made it evident that Rome was collapsing. Therefore this is what stands out to him and this what he writes about. Peter Brown took another look at it and while he saw decay, he also saw growth, so that is the argument he made.

There are all of these different arguments, and that is what history is characterized by--this isn't something fully touched on in school until the college level. As more evidence and sources are uncovered these arguments and views change over time. To re-use my previous example, the standard view of what happened to the Roman Empire--that it declined and fell in fire and blood and war and whatnot--comes from Edward Gibbon's work The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire because this was what the evidence available at the time (1700s) led him to believe. More evidence is uncovered and debates move forward until, in 1971, Peter Brown writes The World of Late Antiquity, which challenges the notion of a decline and fall, and which emphasized the cultural legacy of Rome and revitalization of Europe in that era.

These arguments and the state of the field of history is something called Historiography: how historians have seen a certain event or era over time, as well the general written body of works on a given topic (anything written on the Roman Empire is part of Roman Historiography, for example).

Now that that's out of the way I'll give you a list of works, and I'll explain how to read the works like a historian!

I'm going to give you a small list of European history books that try to cover as much history as possible. Once you read...five or six of these, you will have a decent enough background in general history to be able to pick a subfield--like the Roman Republic, or the Viking raids--to start going in-depth.

Europe: A History--Norman Davies

A History of Modern Europe--John Merriman

The History of the Ancient World--Susan Bauer

The History of the Medieval World--Susan Bauer

The History of the Renaissance World--Susan Bauer

A Short History of the Middle Ages--Barb Rosenwein

Now for how to read like a historian. So, these are general histories, they're not really going to have an argument about the past, just trying to lay out some general facts. Once you get through these, pick a field that has sparked your interest and start reading through that stuff.

Open up an Excel spreadsheet if you have a Windows computer, or a Numbers spreadsheet if you have an Apple. Create four columns, with the last being very wide. I know Roman stuff very well so we'll use that as a guide for how this is going to work. Title the spreadsheet Roman Historiography (or Norse, or German, or Medieval, or whatever you choose to read at that time). Far left column: Title of the book. Next column is the author. Next is the year of publication. The far right column will be titled Historical Argument/Interpretation. In this one you will summarize what the book was about and what the main argument the book was trying to make is (the book's thesis is usually in the introduction).

Not everyone uses this method, but I find it a useful way to keep track of everything I am reading--be sure to organize it by publication year so you can easily find stuff!

When you are actually reading the work, keep a pen or pencil handy, or a notebook if you prefer. Be sure to make a note of any interesting points or comments the historian makes (if they describe someone as a really good guy, for example, you may wish to make note of this, read some other stuff on whoever that historian was writing about, and come back to it and make your own judgment as to whether or not so and so was actually a "good guy" and hence form your own opinion on history).

I'm going to give you one more list.

This last list is on Historiography and Historical Interpretation. It's somewhat advanced, but if you really do have a passion for history you should have no trouble!

A Student's Guide to History--Jules Benjamin

History on Trial--Gary Nash

Telling the Truth about History--Joyce Appleby

The Landscape of History--John Gaddis

Historiography--Eileen Cheng

The Story of Historiography--Jeremy Popkin

An Introduction to the theory, method and practice of History--Peter Claus

How to Study History--Norman Cantor

The Essential Historiography Reader--Caroline Hoefferie (this is a VERY good book)

The Philosophy of History--Mark Day

The Lessons of History--Will Durant

What is History--Edward Carr

I hope I helped! If you have any questions about books for particular areas, please feel free to message me or check the booklist on the sub!

Also!!!! Since you want to pursue this professionally, a tip: If possible, study both history and archaeology, as it will help give you a versatilty in the field!