In this sweeping second volume of the series, The Political and Strategic History of the World, Volume II: From the Caesars to the Peace of Westphalia and Louis XIV, A.D. 14-1661, covers the height and long decline of the Roman Empire, the barbaric invasions, the rise of Christianity, the Holy Roman Empire and Byzantium, the Mongol and Islamic invasions, the slow rise of the nation states of Europe and the history of the early Church through the Reformation to the end of the Thirty Years' War and the accession of Louis XIV. Contrary to the modern proclivity to view history as a coalition of forces working upon passive human society, viewing individual human beings as helpless cogs in the machine, Lord Black insists that history is shaped by very human ambitions and motivations - Churchill's "fine agate points" on which history turns - individual human decisions made in specific times and places. These are especially illuminated by Black's learned assessments of the accomplishments of the many and varied emperors, kings, and queens appearing throughout this volume and in which Lord Black often differs markedly with other historians, most notably Edward Gibbon on the role of Christianity in the late Roman Empire. A delight to read, this is history for the history lover and is also a mighty reference work to be returned to again and again. A must have for all home libraries to pass down to future generations that they may contemplate the doings of their ancestors, draw strength from their courage and tenacity, and revive hope in the certain knowledge that human society continues to progress despite the hardship and setbacks which often accompany it.

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