英国刚公投结束要离开欧盟，远在亚洲的我们，对欧洲的历史又了解多少？我们知道的历史就是全部吗？
 
资本主义与现代工业主义的起源互有关连。马克思主义的发源地－ 现代欧洲为大量的政治革命提供了完美的条件。《现代欧洲的人民历史》透过主流历史试图遗忘的大陆历史事迹，追溯从中世纪的君主恐怖到21世纪的错位欧洲。
 
作者William A. Pelz检视了Thomas Müntzer为首的德国农民战争、十八世纪的资产阶级革命、英国的劳工崛起、苏联一路的动荡、冷战时欧洲劳动阶级的角色，以及1968年的五月风暴（学运）。接着他讲到我们所在的今日，提到我们继续对抗无情、甚至野蛮的经济体制。
 
德国和希腊争辩着各自所拥有的，人们也想着他们周遭的地区都岌岌可危，William A. Pelz 笔下易懂且满是革命气息的历史来的正是时候。喜欢Howard Zinn《 美国人民的历史》（A People's History of the United States）的人肯定也会喜欢这本书，这本书的人民历史，扫去权贵人士的陈腔烂调，让我们有机会从底层的人民了解欧洲的故事。
 
好评
Socialist History
"In this lively and engaging book, Pelz takes the reader through a thousand years of European history from below. This is the not the story of lords, kings and rulers. It is the story of the ordinary people of Europe and their struggles against those lords, kings and rulers, from the Middle Ages to the present day. Written in a lucid and accessible style, A People's History of Modern Europe is a fine introduction to the subject which will be appreciated by students and activists alike."
Ian Birchall, author of The Spectre of Babeuf
"From the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 to the collapse of the Soviet Union, Pelz presents a challenging alternative to the conventional narratives of European history, putting the sufferings and the resistance of working women (often written out of history) and men at the centre of the story. There are strikes, riots, mutinies and revolutions, but they are carefully entwined with economic structures and conflicts and with aspects of everyday life. Based on a wide range of sources, it gives us a comprehensive but concise account, illuminating its arguments with a mass of concrete detail."
Sobhanlal Datta Gupta, University of Calcutta
"Pelz’s A People’s History of Modern Europe is an alternative reading of modern European history, a sharp break with the standard commentaries on the subject. Beginning with the Middle Ages, the book is a fascinating journey across centuries towards the world as we experience it today in the 21st century. However, as distinct from the established names who figure most prominently in the popular accounts of this long period, it is the voice of the ordinary people, the less prominent figures, the women in particular, their ideas and actions, protests and sufferings that have gone into the making of this alternative narrative and therein lies the strength and uniqueness of the volume. A product of rigorous research, yet very comprehensive, it is a book of a different genre, which would remind the reader of A.L. Morton’s A People’s History of England and the writings of Eric Hobsbawm."
Raquel Varela, Universidade Nova de Lisboa
"This is a history of Europe that doesn’t remove the Europeans. Here there are not only kings, presidents, institutions but the pulse of the people and social organizations that shaped Europe. A must-read."
Sjaak van der Velden, International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam
"This book is an exception to the rule that the winner takes all in historiography. It highlights the importance of the commoners which often is only shown in the dark corners of mainstream history books. From Hussetites, Levelellers and sans-cullotes to the women who defended the Paris Commune and the workers who occupied the shipyards during the Carnation revolution in Portugal. The author gives them their deserved place in history just like Howard Zinn did for the American people. Given the current climate of opinion with an overwhelmingly negative attitude towards the struggles of the commoners this book is a good lesson that resistance is often hard but also necessary and fruitful."
Ralf Hoffrogge, Ruhr-Universität Bochum
"The author puts his focus on the lives and historical impact of the common people, i.e. those excluded from power and wealth: peasants and serfs of the middle ages, workers during the Industrial Revolution, women in a patriarchic order that transcended different eras. This focus not only makes history relevant for contemporary debates on social justice, it also urges the reader to develop a critical approach towards sources, always asking who is represented and who is lost."
Boris Kagarlitsky, director of Institute for Globalization Studies and Social Movements
"This book presents us European history as an exciting story of generations of people struggling for better living conditions, social and political rights, for emancipation. This struggles did not always led to immediate success but contributed to the general progress in the long run. This story has to be remembered and specifically considered now, when the very notions of enlightenment, progress and social change are becoming questioned. This means that there are quite a few struggles still ahead of us and we will have to draw inspiration from the experience and history of popular resistance and revolutions of the past."
Marcel van der Linden, International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam
"A splendid antidote to the many European histories dominated by kings, businessmen and generals. It should be on the shelves of both academics and activists. . . .a lively and informative intellectual tour de force."
 
关于作者
William A. Pelz是芝加哥Institute of Working Class History的主任，也是Elgin Community College的历史教授。他近期的著作包括 Wilhelm Liebknecht and German Social Democracy、The Eugene V. Debs Reader 与 Against Capitalism: The European Left on the March。