J. M. ROBERTS was a Fellow and Tutor of Oxford University, now retired. His numerous publications include Europe 1880-1945 and The Paris Commune from the Right. In 1985, BBC2 transmitted the series The Triumph of the West, which he wrote and presented.

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• Book 1 Heritages; Bedrock; Ancient Greece; the making of the Roman world; Imperial Rome and world history. Part 2 Christendom: re-definition; the reshaping of the West; Medieval societies; frontiers and neighbours; the civilization of the Middle Ages; new prospects in the East. Book 3 The launching of modern history 1500-1800: a new age; society and belief; the political organizations of Western Europe; the Ancient regime; the world's new shape. Book 4 The European age: new politics; the world's new rich; a new sort of civilization; a new European order; world hegemony; international order and disorder. Book 5 Europe's 20th century - the era of the European civil war: pressures and strains; the breakdowns of international order; European revolution; crumbling foundations; the last years of the European illusion. Book 6 Europe in the Cold War and after: Europe in the aftermath of war; Europe and global Cold War; the end of the European post-war order; the end of the European post-war order; a new order in the making?