Eugen Joseph Weber was a Romanian-born American historian with a special focus on Western civilization. His 1,300-page Modern History of Europe: Men, Cultures, and Societies from the Renaissance to the Present (1971) was described "a phenomenal job of synthesis and interpretation that reflects Eugen's wide and deep learning," by his UCLA history colleague Hans Rogger. His book: Peasants into Frenchmen: The Modernization of Rural France 1870–1914 is a classic presentation of modernization theory.