Can someone recommend a good general history of 19c. Europe?

by bstarr3

I've been listening to Mike Duncan's Revolutions podcast, which covers a lot of ground through the tumultuous 19th Century in Europe. It has led me to realize that there is so much fascinating and complex history that I dont know from that period. I know it's a huge topic, but is there a good book, accessible to the layperson, that reviews European history, especially social and political, during this time period?

If an overview is too much, I'm particularly interested in the Napoleonic wars, the revolutions of 1848, and the Franco Prussian war.

Wonderfully_Mediocre

The Pursuit of Power: Europe 1815 - 1914 by Richard J. Evan's sounds exactly what you're looking for. As the title suggests, it covers European sociopolitical history between the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the beginning of World War I, what is often called the "concert of Europe" era. Of course, if you want to go in-depth with any one topic (e.g. 1848 Spring of Nations, Franco-Prussian War) you'll be better off finding a book specifically on that topic rather than a general, broad history, but since you want a general history I would highly recommend this book.

leonardearl

You can try Eric Hobsbawm's three-part history of the "long nineteenth century", i.e. 1789-1914, The Age of Revolution,The Age of Capital, and The Age of Empire, covering 1789-1848-1870-1914, respectively.