
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
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Narrated by:
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Grover Gardner
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.Listeners also enjoyed...




















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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.Very Enjoyable
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Amazing
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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!
Seventh Gem in a Priceless Series
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