The Age of Reason Begins

A History of European Civilization in the Period of Shakespeare, Bacon, Montaigne, Rembrandt, Galileo, and Descartes: 1558 - 1648: The Story of Civilization, Book 7

By: Will Durant, Ariel Durant

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Length: 34 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

This seventh volume of Will and Ariel Durant's renowned Story of Civilization chronicles the history of European civilization from 1558 to 1648.

The Age of Reason Begins brings together a fascinating network of stories in the discussion of the bumpy road toward the Enlightenment. This is the age of great monarchs and greater artists - on the one hand, Elizabeth I of England, Philip II of Spain, and Henry IV of France; on the other, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Montaigne, and Rembrandt. It also encompasses the heyday of Francis Bacon, Galileo, Giordano Bruno, and Descartes, the fathers of modern science and philosophy. But it is equally an age of extreme violence, a moment in which all Europe was embroiled in the horrible Thirty Years' War - in some respects, the real first world war. This chapter in cultural history is one that can't be missed.

©1961 Will and Ariel Durant (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

phenomenal

loved it, as I do with all other durant books in this series. that being said I really wish this book were longer,I feel like with the given time period the book could run another 10 hours with material, aside from that it's an amazing book by an amazing author. the Gibbon of the 20th century on my opinion. I wish durant went deeper into the military aspect of it all as well but these gripes are all so minor that it can not take away from the fact that this book and series are magnificent.

Wonderful!

Excellent audible! It’s so important to get a larger picture on the way our societies have advanced and have been shaped. In some ways not as much advanced..

Very Enjoyable

Any additional comments?

Every sentence is worth reading. The author is not only a very good historian, he is a master at telling the story in a way that engages the reader and naturally leads from one part to another.

Amazing

Once again, Will and his wife Ariel have taken a whole swath of history and made sense of it, or at least ferreted out most of the noteworthy events and explained them for those of us not willing to read the thousands of original sources or books that cover this era (1558-1648) in finer detail. The subject matter they cover is nearly overwhelming, but that’s par for the course of each of the eleven volumes of this series. For me, the highlights were the forty pages on Queen Elizabeth I, the twenty pages devoted to Shakespeare, the seventy-plus pages on a then-dominant Spain, and thirty-six pages on Galileo featuring his tussles with the Catholic Church over his heretical findings. All of that was magnificent; the rest was merely wonderful. I’m a fan of this series: only four more volumes to go. This one I started in April (finished it in late September) so no promises as to when I’ll complete volume 8. <smile>

Seventh Gem in a Priceless Series

Will and Ariel Durant were excellent researchers and historians. I’m amazed at how, in the seventh volume of this series, the care and detail given to this work has not changed from its first book. They covered a lot over this specific 90 year period but, to be sure, they could’ve gone into much greater detail as their knowledge was so great.

It’s interesting that this is the first book in the series to have Ariel Durant as co-author. Having read the previous volumes, it’s obvious that she was involved in their production, but I believe she added her own flair to this volume in the way a question would be asked before further investigation, or the announcement of a pause for deeper study would sometimes take place. To my recollection this didn’t happen in earlier volumes (my memory stinks, though, so I may be wrong).

The look into great works of art is always fascinating and nearly every time a piece of work was mentioned, I looked it up on my laptop if it was not pictured inside because the description of monumental paintings is fantastic, making it necessary to see the work that has just been glorified. The same goes for the praised authors. There’s now a list of more books that I’ll eventually purchase because of their influence.

In middle and later chapters, the story of religion’s evolution into various sects (Catholicism, Protestantism, Calvinism, Islam, and the like) are very intense as they politically shaped the world as they do today but in more extreme measures. There was no separation of church and state, so crowns were continuously renounced because of the suspected beliefs of the king or queen, even of family members.

In the final chapters, geometry and physics wage war on religion as the Earth is not the center of the universe, or we do not orbit the sun in a perfect circle. Philosophy evolves because of these understandings and begins to turn from faith.

There’s so much in this book that the review could be pages-long but I’ll end on the notion that Grover Gardner is an excellent narrator. All words are pronounced with such eloquence that it is hard to find a match to his quality. The only thing I didn’t like about this reading was that only two footnotes were read - they were the english translations of poems. Aside from that, a brilliant audiobook that is sure to entertain and educate!

Great

Great! I wish audible would get the whole series narrated by Grover Gardner. Fantastic narration.

Another great historical aide to understanding

It's great to have the understanding history brings to the present. Today's events are much less dramatic when understood in the context of human civilization.

Beyond Classic

The entire series is a national treasure. I grew up sifting through the volumes as did my own children. Words cannot convey my delight in finding them in audiobook version. While all three of the narrators are quite gifted, my personal favorite remains Grover Gardner. I'm quite impatient for the rest of the series to be available.

unbelievable

what people are we? where did we come from? of what are we made? learn it here! an epic story

Religion and Reason in Europe

In the seventh volume of their majestic work - The Story of Civilization - the authors deal with England’s history from Elizabeth’s kingdom to the years before the French Revolution. From there they survey the main facts and the culture’s landscapes of the European States of the time. In an Europe dominated by religions wars, the book describes the politics and culture of the age. In the last part, the work focuses in science and philosophy, pointing to the emergency of reason. Good chapters about Shakespeare, Montaigne and Descartes are presented along the way. Will and Ariel Durant succeeded in combining historical description with the study of the most important characters of the age.