Europe Divided is a fascinating and wide-rangingintroduction to a complex age of movement and conflict. ProfessorElliott's strong narrative takes account of political, economic andsocial developments and provides vivid portraits of the leadingpersonalities of the era. The book examines the hard lines of division in latesixteenth-century Europe: between a Protestant North and a CatholicSouth; between the rich, expanding economy of the West and theharsh poverty of the agrarian East. It was the period that saw thebirth of the Dutch Republic; the defeat of the Spanish Armada; thewestern repulse of the Ottoman Empire; the revival of the papacyand an authoritarian Calvinism. It was also an era of strongpolitical personalities, of Philip II and a powerful HabsburgSpain, of Queen Elizabeth and Catherine de Medici, of Henry IV andMontaigne. Throughout the text, Professor Elliott has been concerned toreveal the complex interaction of events in different parts of thecontinent, rather than examining regions in isolation. The booktherefore conveys the feeling of contemporaries of the era - thatthey were involved in a great European drama.