The History of Modern Europe enjoys the appreciation of both students and professors, as well as the wider reading public, as it manages to combine in-depth analysis and scientific documentation with the accessible and narratively vivid style of John Merriman, who enriches his study with humor and biographical sketches.

This fourth edition has been enriched with newer research data that highlight, among other things, the historical evolution of the women's movement, slavery, and race relations, as well as many other issues related to social history. Merriman, covering a long historical journey of about seven centuries, focuses particularly on the way in which European social structure was shaped through violence and war, two fields that have attracted lively interest in recent academic research.