The Story of Europe
B OX S E T
Presented by Christopher Clark, a professor of Modern European History at Cambridge University, this six-part prestige documentary series gives an intelligent and informed overview of the continent of Europe.
Clark is an engaging, knowledgeable presenter and gives some personal perspective on his feelings about Europe as an Australian who has now lived most of his life in the UK and Germany.
For each episode Clark takes an aspect of Europe’s growth and development – Origins and Identity, Beliefs and Ideas, Ambitions and Conquests, Achievements and Rewards, Commonalities and Divisions culminating with a concluding episode entitled State of Play – and he expounds on his themes eloquently.
Taking this approach which covers a whole range of themes including historical, cultural, economic, scientific and political movements, discoveries and advances, the series manages to cover a lot of ground while at the same time presenting an in-depth consideration of how this small continent (the smallest on the planet) exerted so much influence over the rest of the world. The final two episodes – which focus firstly on how the common values of modern Europe: freedom, equality and fraternalism rose out of the 1789 French Revolution, then conclude with a look at the rise of populism and the far-right – serve as a solemn reminder of what we in the UK now stand to lose as a result of Brexit.