Beginning with pre-history and the early civilizations of the Aegean, this work traces the development of European identity through its many guises. Every period is covered from the Roman Empire and Christian Europe on to the Reformation, the French Revolution, the new European order of the 19th century, empire-building and industrialization. The final part of the book concerns itself with what the author calls "Europe's Twentieth Century: The Era of European Civil War, Global Cold War and after".