Considering that the United Kingdom has been part of the European Community for thirty years, there are surprisingly few books available for children on the history of the rest of Europe. I have been collecting titles for some time, but unfortunately many are out of print. I have included books on aspects of Christian history, with those written from a specifically Protestant or Catholic perspective are marked accordingly.

Please Note: I have not read every book on this list. Titles have been collected from reliable sources, are by authors I know, or have received good reviews. Where I am aware that a book has content that some parents may prefer to avoid, I have made a note of this. 

 

General histories of Europe are listed first, followed by general histories of other countries. The remainder of the list is arranged in chronological order, with non-fiction titles followed by historical fiction. Books set before 400AD are included in the Ancient History list. 

GENERAL 

• The Usborne Book of Europe (Rebecca Treays)
• Peoples & Nations of Europe (Sheila Fairfield) - short summaries of  the history of each country in Europe, but published before the collapse of communism so sections on eastern Europe are out of date
• These Were Europeans (Oosterhuis) - stories of 25 great figures of European history; out of print
• Trial and Triumph: Stories From Church History (Richard Hannula) - 47 short biographies (Protestant)
  

FRENCH HISTORY (GENERAL)

• The Story of France (Eleanor Doorly) - very readable narrative history of France. Shorter than MacGregor and Marshall (00P)
• The Story of France (Mary MacGregor) - out of print, narrative history for children
• History of France (H.E.Marshall) - out of print, narrative history for children
• Stories from French History (Eleanor C.Price) - out of print; for older children than the previous two books

 

GERMAN HISTORY (GENERAL)

• Story of Germany (H.E.Marshall) - out of print and hard to find

 

MIDDLE AGES

Non-Fiction

• St.Benedict: Hero of the Hills (Mary Fabian Windeatt) (Catholic) Italy
• St.Francis (Brian Wildsmith) - beautiful picture book Italy
• Francis & Clare (Helen Walker Homan) (Catholic) Italy
• St. Anthony & the Christ Child (Helen Walker Homan) - St. Anthony of Padua (Catholic) Italy
  St Elizabeth's Three Crowns (Thompson) (Catholic) Hungary
• Genghis Khan and the Mongol Horde (Harold Lamb) - Landmark Series Mongolia
• TJoan of Arc (Josephine Poole) - beautifully illustrated picture book France
• Joan of Arc (Nancy Ross) - Landmark series France
• Joan of Arc (Diane Stanley) France
• St.Joan the Girl Soldier (Louis de Wohl) (Catholic) France
• The Fall of Constantinople (Bernadine Kielty) - Landmark series Byzantium / Turkey

• The White Stag (Kate Seredy) - story of the migration of the Huns and Magyars to Europe in the early middle ages. Newbery medal winner, 1937. Hungary
• The Dancing Bear (Peter Dickinson) - a girl is taken from her home in Byzantium by the Huns. Out of print Byzantium / Hungary
• Son of Charlemagne (Barbara Willard) - 9th century France
• The Little Duke (Charlotte Yonge) - 10th century; about Richard, Duke of Normandy (available online) France
• Casilda & the Rising Moon (Elizabeth Borton de Trevino) - story of St.Casilda, an 11th century Spanish princess Spain
• El Cid (MacCaughrean) - retelling of story of medieval hero Spain
• The Red Keep (Allen French) - 12th century Burgundy France
• A Journey of Souls (C.D.Baker) - story of the Children's Crusade in 1212
  The Red Towers of Granada (Geoffrey Trease) - a young Englishman travels to Spain with a Jewish family exiled from England. Finds himself in danger when his search for a medicinal potion is misinterpreted. Set in late 13th century. Spain
• Tamburlaine's Elephants (Geraldine McCaughrean) - 14th century  Mongolia
• The Apple and the Arrow (Buff) - story of William Tell Switzerland
• The Secret Fiord (Geoffrey Trease) - adventures of a brother and sister in England and Norway in the late Middle Ages Norway
• The Lion of St.Mark (G.A.Henty) - set in 14th century Venice Italy
• The Trumpeter of Krakow (Kelly) - adventure story set in late middle ages Poland
• Joan of Arc (Michael Morpurgo) France

 

RENAISSANCE AND REFORMATION

• Leonardo de Vinci (Diane Stanley) Italy
• Leonardo de Vinci (Emily Hahn) - Landmark series Italy
• Michaelangelo (Diane Stanley) Italy
• The Man Who Laid The Egg (Louise Vernon) - story of Erasmus (Protestant) Netherlands
• Martin Luther (Henry Emerson Fosdick) - Landmark series Germany
• Luther the Leader (Virgil Robinson) (Protestant) Germany
• Thunderstorm in The Church (Louise Vernon) - story of Luther through his son's eyes  (Protestant) Germany 
• The River of Grace: The Story of John Calvin (Joyce McPherson) (Protestant) Switzerland
• This Was John Calvin (Thea B.Van Halsema) (Protestant) Switzerland
• Three Men Came To Heidelberg (Thea B.Van Halsema) - stories behind Heidelberg Catechism and Belgic Confession (1560s) (Protestant) Germany / Netherlands
• William of Orange (W.G.Van de Hulst) - 16th century Protestant hero (Protestant) Netherlands
• Night Preacher (Louise Vernon) - story of Menno Simmons, leader of the Mennonites (Protestant)
• St. Philip of the Joyous Heart (Francis Connolly) - St.Philip Neri (Catholic) Italy
• St. Ignatius and the Company of Jesus (August Derleth) (Catholic) Spain
• A Piece of the Mountain (Joyce Mcpherson) - Blaise Pascal, 17th century scientist and mathematician France
• Chief of the Cossacks (Harold Lamb) - biography of Stenka Razin, 17th century Cossack leader who rebelled against the Tzar; Landmark series Russia

Historical Fiction

• Ink on His Fingers (Louise Vernon) - story of Gutenberg Germany
• Isabel: Jewel of Castilla (Carolyn Meyer) - Royal Diaries series Spain
• The Apprentice (Llorente) - set in Florence, about a boy who wants to be an artist Italy
• I Juan de Pareja (Elizabeth Borton de Trevino) - a young slave is apprenticed to a painter Spain
• Dutch Color (Douglas Jones) - paint and painting Netherlands
  Tibaldo and the Hole in the Calendar (Abner Shimony) - an 11yo boy in 16th century Italy fights to keep his birthday despite the change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. Combines history and science (astronomy and medicine). Well written, informative and engaging but includes graphic description of childbirth Italy
• The Carpenter of Zerbst (P.de Zeeuw) - set during Reformation (Protestant) Netherlands
• The Escape (A.Van der Jagt) - Huguenot children in 17th century France (Protestant) France
• St.Bartholomew's Eve: A Tale of the Huguenot Wars (G.A.Henty) (Protestant) France
• By Pike and Dyke: A Tale of the Rise of the Dutch Republic (G.A.Henty) - adventures of an English boy in the household of William the Silent (Protestant) Netherlands
• The Secret Mission (A.Van der Jagt) - sequel to The Escape (Protestant) France
• Huguenot Garden (Douglas M.Jones III) - set in 1685 (Protestant) France
• When The Morning Came / Dispelling The Tyranny (Piet Prins) - persecution of Protestants  (Protestant) France
• The Lion of The North (G.A.Henty) - Thirty Years War Germany
• Won By The Sword (G.A.Henty) - France in later part of Thirty Years War France
• Children of the Book (Peter Carter) - Turkish attack on Vienna in 1683 Austria

 

EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

• Catherine the Great (Katherine Scherman) - Landmark series Russia
• Peter the Great (Diane Stanley) Russia
• The Curé of Ars (Milton Lomask) (Catholic) France
  

• Marie-Antoinette, Princess of Versailles, Austria-France, 1769 (Kathryn Lasky) - Royal Diaries series France
• Marie Antoinette (Bernadine Kielty) - Landmark series France

Historical Fiction

• In Search of Honour (Hess) France
• A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens) - classic fiction  France
• The Scarlet Pimpernel (Baroness Orczy) - more classic fiction France
• In The Reign of Terror (G.A.Henty) - French Revolution France
• Escape from France (Ronald Welch) - an English student is caught up in the events of the French revolution. France
• Thunder of Valmy (Geoffrey Trease) - story of the French revolution told through the eyes of a teenage boy caught up in its events France

 

• Napoleon & the Battle of Waterloo (Frances Winwar) - Landmark series France

• Violet For Bonaparte (Geoffrey Trease) - a young Englishman travels to the island of Elba, where Napoleon is imprisoned France / Italy

 

• Garibaldi: Father of Modern Italy (Marcia Davenport) - Landmark series Italy
• Bernadette: Our Lady's Little Servant (H.Pauli) (Catholic) France
• St.Catherine Labouré (Alma Power-Waters) (Catholic) France
• St.Therese and the Roses (Helen Walker Homan)  (Catholic) France
• St. John Bosco and St. Dominic Savio (Catherine Beebe) (Catholic) Italy
• St. Pius X (Walter Diethelm) (Catholic) Italy 

Historical Fiction

• The Iron Tsar (Geoffrey Trease) - three young people try to rescue a Russian poet who has been imprisoned by the Tsar. Set in 1830s. Russia 
• Follow My Black Plume (Geoffrey Trease) - Garibaldi and campaign for Italian unification in later 19th century. Italy
• A Thousand for Sicily (Geoffrey Trease) Italy
• The Letzenstein Chronicles (Meriol Trevor) - adventure series set amongst political intrigues of 19th century Europe 
• The Crystal Snowstorm
• Following the Phoenix
• The Angel and Dragon
• The Rose And Crown 

 

EARLY 20TH CENTURY / WORLD WAR I
Non-Fiction

• The Children of Fatima and Our Lady's Message to the World (Windeatt) (Catholic) Portugal

Historical Fiction

• The Good Master (Kate Seredy) - set in Hungary just before World War I. Also sequel.... Hungary
  The Singing Tree (Kate Seredy) - set during World War I Hungary

 

RUSSIAN REVOLUTION
Non-Fiction

• One Day in Russia 1917 (Philip Bolsover) - story of the Revolution told from perspective of a cross-section of St.Petersburg society Russia

Historical Fiction 

• Angel on the Square (Gloria Whelan) - Katya's mother becomes a lady-in-waiting to the Empress in1913; World War I and the Russian Revolution bring great changes to her life. Well told "inside story" of one of the most significant events of the 20th century. Russia
• Anastasia, the Last Grand Duchess: Russia 1914 (Carolyn Meyer) - Royal Diaries series] Russia
• The White Nights of St.Petersburg (Geoffrey Trease) - Russian Revolution. For teenagers / older children Russia

 

WORLD WAR II

Non-Fiction

• Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl  Netherlands

Historical Fiction

• Number the Stars (Lowry) - story of a Danish family during Nazi occupation Denmark
• Twenty & Ten (Bishop) - French children hide Jewish children during World War II France
• Waiting for Anya (M.Morpurgo) - young French boy helps Jewish children to escape over the border to Spain France
• Butterfly (Patricia Polacco) - about the daughter of a Resistance worker France
• The Winged Watchman (Hilda van Stockum) - life in Holland during World War II Netherlands
• Small War of Sergeant Donkey (Maureen Daly) - an Italian boy and his donkey help an American soldier during World War II Italy
• The Snow Treasure (McSwigan) - children held to smuggle gold out of Nazi occupied Norway Norway
• The Silver Sword (Ian Serraillier) - four children struggle to survive in the ruins of Warsaw ( US title: Escape From Warsaw) Poland
• The Mozart Question (Michael Morpurgo) - how Jewish musicians survived the holocaust
• Burying the Sun (Gloria Whelan) - Leningrad / St. Petersburg under siege Russia
• The Endless Steppe (Esther Hautzig) - a family are sent to a labour camp in Siberia during World War II Russia

 

OTHER TWENTIETH CENTURY
Historical Fiction

• The Impossible Journey (Gloria Whelan) - Siberia after the Russian Revolution Russia
• Toro! Toro! (Michael Morpurgo) - Spanish Civil War Spain
• Leon (Helen Griffiths) - story about a dog set during the Spanish Civil War Spain
• Shadow Under the Sea (Geoffrey Trease) - set in Russia during Perestroika period Russia
• The Turning (Gloria Whelan) - end of Soviet era Russia
• Song for a Tattered Flag (Geoffrey Trease) - fall of the Ceaucescu regime Romania