Deaf Education in Europe - the Early Years gives a complete overview of the emergence of deaf education institutions in 38 European countries and regions. The author, Henk Betten, initiated and conducted a survey across Europe, asking local experts about the early history of deaf education. He supplemented his survey with information from the library of Royal Dutch Kentalis. The result is a comprehensive publication listing the countries, names of the first educational institutions, and their founders. A total of 79 illustrations depict the buildings, educators, initiators, and the hand alphabet of each of the countries. Corrie Tijsseling, Associate Professor at Utrecht University, provided the foreword to Deaf Education in Europe - the Early Years. Appendices with an article on the manual versus the oral method, a name listing with all the significant persons, and a table of the establishment dates of the deaf schools make the publication complete. Deaf Education in Europe - the Early Years will be officially presented on 21 September 2013 at World Deaf Day in the Netherlands. Henk Betten was born on 7 December 1938 as one of seven children. His oldest sister and Henk were born deaf. As a deaf student he attended the Institute for the Deaf in Gro¬ningen, the Netherlands, from 1942 to 1955. The institute is now part of Royal Dutch Kentalis.