This thorough text offers a long-run perspective on the European economy from 1500 to the present day, and compares Europe's position of world dominance in the 19th century with its vacillating fortunes in the 20th century. Europe is set specifically within an international context to illustrate how it influenced the rest of the world and how in turn the latter helped to shape the pattern of European development. The authors explain why Europe overtook the formerly advanced Eastern civilizations and how this resulted in the growing inequality among the nations of the world which is such a marked feature in the present day. They then trace the development of the European economy within the context of the international economy and analyse the reasons for its rise to world dominance in the 19th century and then its collapse and revival in the 20th century. INDICE Europe in the international economy, 1500 to 2000 the rise of the European economy, 1500 2000 the Europeanization of the international economy, 1800 1870 the zenith of European power, 1870 1918 the disintegration of Europe, 1918 1945 Cold War and common market - Europe, 1945 1973 Europe at the crossroads, 1974 2000.