Peoples and Empires

Covering the huge span of time from ancient Rome to the present day, this overview of European and Western civilization resembles a condensed version of a first-year college course. Fortunately, this account presents overriding themes and cause-and-effect trends to make sense of such a scope of world events. Robert O'Keefe manages to read with energy yet maintain a respectable sense of academia, sometimes allowing the author's sarcasm or incredulity to creep into his tone. Occasionally it's difficult for the listener to distinguish quotations from straight narrative. But O'Keefe tackles a plethora of international names confidently, and his impressive diction is crisp, yet smooth and seamless. N.M.C. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine