The Making Of Europe Book Review

The Making of Europe

In The Making of Europe, Christopher Dawson set out to rewrite European History from a European point-of-view to understand the unity of the common civilization instead of a national identity. He advocates for Europe to develop a common European consciousness and a sense of its historic and organic unity. Dawson argues that there should not be a separate history for each country, but a common history entertained with all. The Making of Europe adeptly corroborates Dawson’s thesis, while also addressing the reasons behind the fall of The Roman Empire as a result of turmoil in the Empire, classical tradition and Christianity, the Barbarian invasions, and the spread of Islam. Dawson’s book is about the people and cultures
In point of fact, Dawson argues that it was the personal influence of Charlemagne that inspired the greatest achieve of the Carolingian Age: the gathering together of the scattered elements of the classical and patristic traditions and their reorganization as the basis of a new culture. The Carolingian Age saw a return to scholarship that changed the face of the written word. The revision and scripts and calligraphy are hallmarks of this important era of the Middle Ages. Art and architecture also saw advancements during this time period. Dawson again points to the imperial influence of Charlemagne as the founder of “Holy Roman” architecture. On art, Dawson says, “it is in miniature-painting and illumination that the mixed art of the Carolingian period is seen to best
The grandson of several generations of clergymen, coming of age in a medieval castle-like dwelling, and the actual town in which he was raised, all gave him a “dual perception of reality as both time- and culture-linked.” He was the century’s leading historian on the Catholic Church, so rumination must also be given to his close association of Catholicism. Dawson “saw totalitarianism as part of modernity’s growing secularization of culture,” and concluded that it needed a response. Schwartz points out that “Dawson’s views on totalitarianism molded his attitudes toward topics as diverse as fascism and communism, World War II, the welfare state, decolonization, America’s role in Western civilization, education, European unity, and religious