The work of two British researchers proposed an original concept of the political and social development of Europe for more than two centuries. Considering the development of the continent from the French Revolution to the present, the authors seek to show the regularity and inconsistency of such processes as the formation of nation-states, colonial empires, liberal democratic institutions and totalitarian regimes. The history of Europe is presented as a single multidimensional process in which from time to time the leading countries changed, the pace of regional development accelerated and slowed down, but the movement never stopped, opening up new opportunities and prospects for its participants.