Vanished Kingdoms: The Rise and Fall of States and Nations

Europe's past is littered with states and kingdoms, large and small, that are scarcely remembered today. And while their names may be unfamiliar--Aragon, Etruria, the Kingdom of the Two Burgundies--their stories should change the mental map of the past. This is Davies at his best: sweeping narrative history packed with unexpected insights. 720 pp. 30,000 print.