ABSTRACT

Europe is both a place and an idea. Most of us, if challenged to do so, could produce a reasonably precise description of its boundaries: to the west the Atlantic coastline, stretching from Cape Finisterre (Finis terrae – the end of the land) to Ireland and the Outer Hebrides, but also including island groups such as the Faroes and the Azores; to the north the coasts of Norway, Finland and Russia; to the south the Mediterranean, and to the east, less assuredly perhaps, the Ural mountains.