A broad sweeping overview of European history with a materialist slant to it. Excellent. ( )

In what was originally a series of lectures, McNeill offers a very broad overview of European history, which he breaks into three phases divided at 900 and 1500 AD. It's a stimulating whirlwind tour, especially if you already know something about the subject, and McNeill (author of classics like The Rise of the West and The Pursuit of Power) introduces the useful concept of "cultural gradients" as a way of understanding what went on in Europe. ( )