This book continues the life work of what may now be called the Durant family in writing the history of civilization. The six volumes previously published (listed on the back of this jacket) carried the story of mankind from the earliest beginnings of Asiatic civilization to the death of Calvin in 1564. Volume VII, The Age of Reason Begins, surveys the turbulent century of religious strife and scientific progress from the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558 to the death of Descartes in 1650 —a century marked by such great names as Bacon, Shakespeare, Galileo, and Rembrandt.
The table of contents of The Age of Reason Begins reveals a wealth of famous personalities and great events. Book I, "The English Ecstasy," opens with a portrait of the fascinating Queen Elizabeth. It studies Sidney, Raleigh, Spenser, Marlowe, Jonson, and Donne, and undertakes a fresh review of Shakespeare. In history, it covers the loves and death of Mary Queen of Scots, and that creative conflict between King and Parliament which ended with the victory of Parliament and the execution of the King. And it sounds the basic theme of the volume by carefully analyzing the philosophy of Francis Bacon, the "Chanticleer of Reason."
Book II, "The Faiths Fight for Power," surveys the life and culture of Continental Europe from the accession of Philip II in 1556 to the close of the Thirty Years' War in 1648. We see the Catholic Church in its vigorous recovery under Sixtus V; we watch the astonishing infiltration of the Jesuits in Europe, and their communistic organization of Paraguay; we assist with Monteverdi at the birth of opera; we follow Tasso in his poetic flights from Jerusalem to insanity; and we study the development of the baroque style, as Bernini plants his majestic colonnade before St. Peter's in Rome.
Dr. and Mrs. Durant turn to the complex history of Spain — Philip II, the Armada, the Inquisition. They examine the golden age of Spanish literature and art, with the works of Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Cal-derón, El Greco, Velázquez and Murillo. In France they survey the intrigues of Catherine de Médicis, the adventures of Henry IV, the statesmanship of Cardinal Richelieu, the artistic creations of Corneille in the theater and Poussin in art. Twenty lively and scandalous pages are devoted here to Montaigne, whom Sainte-Beuve called "the wisest Frenchman who ever lived."
This too was the supreme age of the Netherlands, in their heroic defense against Philip II and Alva. It was the age of Rubens and Vandyck, of Frans Hals and Rembrandt.
Indeed, nothing is missing from this chronicle of events, personalities, ideas, and art. The authors study Sweden and Denmark, and Christina, the philosopher-queen; Poland making her peace with the Church; Russia in her "Time of Troubles," with the death of Boris Godunov and the rise of the Romanov dynasty; Turkey in the decline of the Seraglio and the defeat of Lepanto; Persia under Shah Abbas the Great. ... In Germany we pass through the horrors of the Thirty Years' War to the assassination of Wallenstein, the death of Gustavus Adolphus, and finally the Peace of Westphalia, in which the warring powers and faiths join to reconstruct an exhausted continent.
Amid the conflict of armies and creeds, the authors show us in Book III the development of science and the resurrection of philosophy. This was the age of Kepler and Galileo, of Bruno and Descartes, the birth of the compound microscope, the telescope, the thermometer, and the barometer, the invention of the logarithmic and decimal systems, the discovery of the planetary orbits and laws. Slowly, science and philosophy were vanquishing superstition; modern Europe and the modern mind were taking form.
* * *
Lavishly illustrated, fully indexed and annotated, this seventh volume of THE STORY OF CIVILIZATION — perhaps the best-known history of government, literature, morals, religion, science, philosophy, and an ever written — is an essential part of the library of anyone who seeks to know the wisdom and the lessons of the past. It is another major chapter in the famous series that has now become a permanent institution of learning, knowledge, and enlightenment, read throughout the world, and translated into most of the major languages of Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. It is a gift for the years.
Description:
This book continues the life work of what may now be called the Durant family in writing the history of civilization. The six volumes previously published (listed on the back of this jacket) carried the story of mankind from the earliest beginnings of Asiatic civilization to the death of Calvin in 1564. Volume VII, The Age of Reason Begins, surveys the turbulent century of religious strife and scientific progress from the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558 to the death of Descartes in 1650 —a century marked by such great names as Bacon, Shakespeare, Galileo, and Rembrandt. The table of contents of The Age of Reason Begins reveals a wealth of famous personalities and great events. Book I, "The English Ecstasy," opens with a portrait of the fascinating Queen Elizabeth. It studies Sidney, Raleigh, Spenser, Marlowe, Jonson, and Donne, and undertakes a fresh review of Shakespeare. In history, it covers the loves and death of Mary Queen of Scots, and that creative conflict between King and Parliament which ended with the victory of Parliament and the execution of the King. And it sounds the basic theme of the volume by carefully analyzing the philosophy of Francis Bacon, the "Chanticleer of Reason." Book II, "The Faiths Fight for Power," surveys the life and culture of Continental Europe from the accession of Philip II in 1556 to the close of the Thirty Years' War in 1648. We see the Catholic Church in its vigorous recovery under Sixtus V; we watch the astonishing infiltration of the Jesuits in Europe, and their communistic organization of Paraguay; we assist with Monteverdi at the birth of opera; we follow Tasso in his poetic flights from Jerusalem to insanity; and we study the development of the baroque style, as Bernini plants his majestic colonnade before St. Peter's in Rome. Dr. and Mrs. Durant turn to the complex history of Spain — Philip II, the Armada, the Inquisition. They examine the golden age of Spanish literature and art, with the works of Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Cal-derón, El Greco, Velázquez and Murillo. In France they survey the intrigues of Catherine de Médicis, the adventures of Henry IV, the statesmanship of Cardinal Richelieu, the artistic creations of Corneille in the theater and Poussin in art. Twenty lively and scandalous pages are devoted here to Montaigne, whom Sainte-Beuve called "the wisest Frenchman who ever lived." This too was the supreme age of the Netherlands, in their heroic defense against Philip II and Alva. It was the age of Rubens and Vandyck, of Frans Hals and Rembrandt. Indeed, nothing is missing from this chronicle of events, personalities, ideas, and art. The authors study Sweden and Denmark, and Christina, the philosopher-queen; Poland making her peace with the Church; Russia in her "Time of Troubles," with the death of Boris Godunov and the rise of the Romanov dynasty; Turkey in the decline of the Seraglio and the defeat of Lepanto; Persia under Shah Abbas the Great. ... In Germany we pass through the horrors of the Thirty Years' War to the assassination of Wallenstein, the death of Gustavus Adolphus, and finally the Peace of Westphalia, in which the warring powers and faiths join to reconstruct an exhausted continent. Amid the conflict of armies and creeds, the authors show us in Book III the development of science and the resurrection of philosophy. This was the age of Kepler and Galileo, of Bruno and Descartes, the birth of the compound microscope, the telescope, the thermometer, and the barometer, the invention of the logarithmic and decimal systems, the discovery of the planetary orbits and laws. Slowly, science and philosophy were vanquishing superstition; modern Europe and the modern mind were taking form. * * * Lavishly illustrated, fully indexed and annotated, this seventh volume of THE STORY OF CIVILIZATION — perhaps the best-known history of government, literature, morals, religion, science, philosophy, and an ever written — is an essential part of the library of anyone who seeks to know the wisdom and the lessons of the past. It is another major chapter in the famous series that has now become a permanent institution of learning, knowledge, and enlightenment, read throughout the world, and translated into most of the major languages of Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. It is a gift for the years.