Theodore K. Rabb Books

What is the scene or incident in European history that you would like to have witnessed--and why? This is the question that the editors posed to twenty superb historians, who each wrote a personal essay in response. The result is this engrossing book, a worthy sequel to the acclaimed volume on American history, I Wish I'd Been There. From the death of Alexander the Great to the German surrender ending World War II, these essays move across a wide geography for over two millennia and deal with politics, law, religion, peace and war, science and the arts, rebellion, and social change. In addition to adding immediacy, color, and vibrancy to well-known events, they also provide fresh illuminations and interpretations of vital moments in the history of Europe.--From publisher description

'What is the moment in history that you would like to have witnessed - and why?' This is the thought-provoking question that Theodore Rabb and Byron Hollinshead posed to twenty of our finest historians. Their answers can be found in this fascinating and thoroughly readable book, which trains a lens on crucial moments of our past and brings them to vivid life.Contributors include: Tom Holland, John Elliott, John Julius Norwich, Margaret MacMillan and John Keegan and with these - and other - peerless scholars as their guides, readers will be transported to the death of Alexander the Great, Christmas 800 CE when Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor, Hannibal's legendary crossing of the Alps, Runnymede where King John was forced to sign Magna Carta, the Spanish Armada, the Battle of the Nile, Paris 1919, the German surrender in 1945 and the end of the First Gulf War. Imaginatively executed and vividly written, the result is a pageant of character and event that will attract and delight readers of history.