Highly regarded here and abroad for some thirty works of cultural history and criticism, master historian Jacques Barzun has now set down in on... read full description
reviews
Jan 22, 2010
Bentley
rated it: 
Brief synopsis: A book for the stalwart who love learning and intellectual gymnastics. A brain workout.
I have to agree with Elizabeth S who reviewed as follows:
A very deep read. One of those that, to really enjoy, takes more time than just the reading time. It isn't a book to read, it is a book to experience. A book that, when you are done, you feel you know less than you thought you knew when you started. Overall, absolutely amazing.
Jacques Barzun is More...
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Aug 09, 2011
Lynn
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This a book for the person who thinks that they will not live long enough to learn everything they want to learn. It is huge. It is marvelous. If one looks at the bibliography, it is stunning that any one person could have accessed all this knowledge. This book is 500 hundred year of Western culture, everything from politics, to cookbooks. It took me from October to May to read this book ( of course I put it down for periods or time to read a fast mystery or thriller for a break) but I felt li
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Aug 10, 2011
Paula
rated it:
Not the kind of book that you can't put down. I use this as my exercycle reading. That way I digest a little each day. This is not only a book about history, but a book about ideas. Barzun traces the intellectual history of Western Civilization since its "Dawn" with the birth of the printing press and consequent proliferation of ideas. I never pick it up without feeling that I've found insight into why things have played out the way they have, or at least confirmation of something I've
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Oct 06, 2010
Brad
rated it:
This is a wonderful book that could be written only by someone like Barzun and only near the end of a deeply distinguished career that spanned several decades.
The scope of the book is breath-taking. And the learning necessary to write it is mind-boggling. The book is exactly what the sub-title suggests: a delightfully erudite discussion of 500 years of western cultural life.
In particular, I love Barzun's definition of decadence: a state of affairs where futility and abs More...
The scope of the book is breath-taking. And the learning necessary to write it is mind-boggling. The book is exactly what the sub-title suggests: a delightfully erudite discussion of 500 years of western cultural life.
In particular, I love Barzun's definition of decadence: a state of affairs where futility and abs More...
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Mar 16, 2010
Evan
rated it: 
As everyone who’s attempted to read this book knows, it’s huge, it’s vast, it’s panoramic. It is a Great Book and is worth tackling.
That said, while I was particularly impressed with the first 3/4 , I couldn’t help but feel that Barzun was more than a bit dismissive of the modern age and looked down his nose at the current day. So, while I thought his treatment of the enlightenment and the reformation were revealing, I did however, find his critique of the 20th century a bit haltin More...
That said, while I was particularly impressed with the first 3/4 , I couldn’t help but feel that Barzun was more than a bit dismissive of the modern age and looked down his nose at the current day. So, while I thought his treatment of the enlightenment and the reformation were revealing, I did however, find his critique of the 20th century a bit haltin More...
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Aug 18, 2009
Chris
rated it:
Whew
Well this certainly took a while.
Barzun takes on the challenge of trying to articulate over 500 years of Western Culture and meets with success in parts and clearly struggles to incorporate the disparities and splintering that increases as he approaches current time. Fairly understandable given that as the forces that evoked changes became more individualized the clashes and changes would inevitably become difficult to put into a cohesive order. Perhaps that it part of the story More...
Well this certainly took a while.
Barzun takes on the challenge of trying to articulate over 500 years of Western Culture and meets with success in parts and clearly struggles to incorporate the disparities and splintering that increases as he approaches current time. Fairly understandable given that as the forces that evoked changes became more individualized the clashes and changes would inevitably become difficult to put into a cohesive order. Perhaps that it part of the story More...
Jul 26, 2011
Ronald
rated it:
Fantastic. 500 year overview of Western culture and history in just over 800 pages by a man with a wide and deep understanding of his subject. If you could read just one book on "Western Civilization", this would be it, but it's not a book for beginners. For instance, due to my weak knowledge of the arts and music, it was a little rough both getting through and understanding his review and critiques of those areas. Warning: If you judge people, history, art, politics and literatur
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Nov 01, 2010
Matthew
rated it:
An eccentric, opinionated look at the evolution of western culture since the dawn of modernity. Barzun occasionally writes like a cranky old man grumbling about "kids these days," albeit with the silver-tongued pretension of an emeritus professor, but the scope and depth of his learning cannot be denied. Stuffed to the brim with interesting asides, entertaining character sketches (not of the usual suspects!), and provocative arguments sure to rouse a passionate reaction. Regardless
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Feb 10, 2011
Rachel
rated it:
It's not often that one is sorry to finish a nearly 800-page book, or that the process of wending one's way through those 800 pages is so consistently engaging, enjoyable and even exciting. Being so thoroughly a product of this decadent era, I have to make an ironic comment: part of the reason this romp through 500 years of history was so enjoyable -- for me and I suspect for many of those who put it on the NYT bestseller list -- is because of a level of culture and education that renders only
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May 29, 2010
Diane
rated it:
Details Western culture from the Renaissance to the present. The author follows a number of themes, including individualism, emancipation, primitivism, analysis, and abstraction, that he claims have shaped the past 500 years. He makes a persuasive case for the unity of this period. He argues that although Western culture is currently somewhat decadent, it is likely to enter a new phase of creativity soon to restart the cycle. He doesn't, however, address whether the characteristics mentioned
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Sep 05, 2010
John
rated it:
500 years in 800 pages. That's obviously a difficult task. Barzun is perhaps one of the most widely read authors I've ever read. He's written scholarly books in many different areas of study including art, history, journalism, and more. I was hoping for a different kind of book. This is essentially a history of movements in the past 500 years--emphasizing the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Enlightenment, Industrialism, and our modern era. It is interesting how he highlights some things
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May 17, 2009
Peter
rated it:
This work provides a panoramic and magisterial view on the culture of Western Civilization from 1500-2000. I found it difficult to lay down the first time I read it. I still often dip into sections or themes within it. A very useful overview of the cultural history of the modern and early-modern eras in western thought and cultural activity. Dawn to Decadence increased my appreciation in the accomplishments of Western Civilization and Culture, while renewing my faith in the possibilities suc
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Feb 28, 2010
Stephen
rated it:
I saw this book going cheap in a bookshop that sold remainders -- unsold copies of books returned to the publishers. I knew Jacques Barzun as one of the authoers of The Modern Researcher, which I had helpful in writing my doctoral thesis. So I bought it, and I'm glad I did.
It's a kind of history and tourist's guide to modernity. It's taken me a long time to read it, because it's a long book. I read other stuff in the mean time, and when I was halfway through I forgot about it for a More...
It's a kind of history and tourist's guide to modernity. It's taken me a long time to read it, because it's a long book. I read other stuff in the mean time, and when I was halfway through I forgot about it for a More...
Dec 29, 2009
Chris
rated it:
Perhaps the single most amazing thing about this tome - an absolutely brilliant compendium of wisdom, erudition, commentary, and insight, written with a detached passion that illuminates the topics and breathes life into its actors - is that Barzun assembled most of this five-star gem whilst in his early nineties! That the cobwebs of senescence have never been allowed to gather in this transplanted Frenchman's mind becomes abundantly clear as one works their way through this absolute exemplarity
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Oct 17, 2009
Sonky
rated it:
What a journey. My brother sent me the book a few months ago--June, I think b/c it was shortly after his birthday.
500 years of the world's dominant culture, the culture that brought you the notion of culture.
Barzun's style, after you are accustomed to it enough to read it at all, is flowing but pithy; that makes for what I call a dense read. My tramp through this book's 800 or so pages of story excluding the 100 pages of end materials, was conducted on bus and toilet seat More...
500 years of the world's dominant culture, the culture that brought you the notion of culture.
Barzun's style, after you are accustomed to it enough to read it at all, is flowing but pithy; that makes for what I call a dense read. My tramp through this book's 800 or so pages of story excluding the 100 pages of end materials, was conducted on bus and toilet seat More...
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Aug 03, 2008
Michael
rated it:
Frankly, having read this work, I'm a bit embarassed to be writing a review. In as much as the whole narrative leads one to an inescapable feeling of living in a totally fragmented, de-contextualized, and (to use the author's word) decadent, society; it seems rather self-indulgent to commit these words to the infinite void of cyberspace, where, as far as I will ever know, no one will read them, respond to them, or act upon them.
Having said that, however, here are my thoughts:
B More...
Having said that, however, here are my thoughts:
B More...
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Jun 20, 2008
K
rated it:
For those too young to have been subjected to H.G. Wells, Toynbee, the Durants -- who else am I missing? -- this book may come as an aid to forming some framework by which to understand the past and present and perhaps predict the future. While not quite Marx or Nostradamus, Barzun and his academic assistants really try to rev their mental engines on this one. They look at what they know and rethink it in terms of all they have learned since they first learned the first things; they revise views
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Feb 10, 2008
Bob
rated it:
Colossal integration of art, culture, politics and thought over the last half millenium.
Update: I just finished the book. What a magnificent work. I will just add two notes.
1. From the prologue, for those who may be interested in Barzun's framework: "All that is meant by Decadence is 'falling off.' It implies in those who live in such a time no loss of energy or talent or moral sense. On the contrary, it is a very active time, full of deep concerns, but peculiar More...
Update: I just finished the book. What a magnificent work. I will just add two notes.
1. From the prologue, for those who may be interested in Barzun's framework: "All that is meant by Decadence is 'falling off.' It implies in those who live in such a time no loss of energy or talent or moral sense. On the contrary, it is a very active time, full of deep concerns, but peculiar More...
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May 31, 2010
PB
rated it: 
Couldn't finish. I recommend to no one. Pretentious prose (largely because Barzun is trying so hard to sound unpretentious) and rank misunderstandings of many of the figures, events, and ideas involved. And to top it off, he doesn't give due discussion to so many of the factors important to cultural history: institutional life, everyday life, material conditions, technology. I'm thankful that the generation of humanists to which Barzun belongs has had its day.
Dec 17, 2009
John
rated it:
Goodness, it took me a long time to read this book. I feel like I've aged 500 years.
It's a very long book, perhaps even for someone who reads in a more focused way than I do. It would be even longer if it had pictures and other illustrations, but they would be helpful.
Mr. Barzun lived through most of the 20th century, but he seems to prefer the earlier centuries.
A sample:
"We speak of the importance of 'image,' and the kind desired is one of anti-facade. It must disp More...
It's a very long book, perhaps even for someone who reads in a more focused way than I do. It would be even longer if it had pictures and other illustrations, but they would be helpful.
Mr. Barzun lived through most of the 20th century, but he seems to prefer the earlier centuries.
A sample:
"We speak of the importance of 'image,' and the kind desired is one of anti-facade. It must disp More...
Feb 13, 2010
Andrew
rated it:
The scope and the clarity of his vision are staggering. There is a wry humour here which crops up from time to time, giving the dense, dry prose an enjoyable kick. Barzun does not tell you; he imparts in the reader an understanding, and allows you, even invites you, to draw your own conclusion. I can't recommend it enough.
Feb 22, 2007
Elaine
rated it:
As I indicated, this book is great for history buffs and a general audience alike. Barzun provides a comprehensive, broad, yet original and insightful history on the last 500 years of Western culture. Although I recall the description salaciously advertising this book as a manifesto against contemporary culture in all of its decadence, Barzun spends most of his time documenting the intellectual accomplishments of man, from the Renaissance through the Romantic era. He challenges the dominant s
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Sep 06, 2010
David
rated it:
Good analysis and prescient but I'm not sure that I agree about his current assessment of Western civilization. We're entering a new period in world history where the fracturing into discrete civilizations/cultures is less and less rational. But a very learned book and well worth the time it takes to read it.
Aug 07, 2011
Ron
rated it:
Quite simply the best overview of the last 500 years that I've read, by a master sylist who is well versed on every topic. Barzun explores life from numerous angles, making this account of history lively and eminently readable. It is a massive tome that will take some time to get through, but it is well worth the effort.
Mar 07, 2011
Frank
rated it:
A lucid, engaging, clear-eyed survey of 500 years of Western Cultural history, and a convincing indictment of our current decadent state.
Also a jumping-off point for much further reading: throughout the text Barzun gives suggestions for deeper exposure, as well as shedding light on figures of cultural significance who deserve further acquaintance. Added at least 50 books to my to-read list based on my reading here.
Not a beginner's introduction, but definitely a valuable More...
Also a jumping-off point for much further reading: throughout the text Barzun gives suggestions for deeper exposure, as well as shedding light on figures of cultural significance who deserve further acquaintance. Added at least 50 books to my to-read list based on my reading here.
Not a beginner's introduction, but definitely a valuable More...
Oct 25, 2009
ActionScientist
rated it:
Perhaps the best book I have ever read twice. Essential reading for the understanding how "the West" was made. As part of a still thriving "Western" colony in Africa I am always interested in stories about my European roots.
May 01, 2011
Frank
rated it:
this is a great book
an alternative to the History Channel
without UFO'S Nazis & Nostrodamus all the time
great little facts too
i didn't know about the guy who almost 500 years ago
came close to having the Big Bang theory
wonderful stuff and at 900 pages I wanted more
an alternative to the History Channel
without UFO'S Nazis & Nostrodamus all the time
great little facts too
i didn't know about the guy who almost 500 years ago
came close to having the Big Bang theory
wonderful stuff and at 900 pages I wanted more
Jul 08, 2011
Dennis
rated it:
From Dawn to Decadence is, without a doubt, one of the most brillient books I have read. Jacques Barzum has poured a lifetime of scholorship and common sense into this book. It is one of those few books I consider really important for understanding the world we live in and the people we have become.
Jan 05, 2010
From what I read of it I really would like to finish it, but there just isn't time right now and I need my three inches of shelf space. I hope to check it out of the library some day.
Jan 12, 2010
Charles
rated it:
I found an old copy of this that has become disbound (pages falling out) so I started annotating it agressively in blue pen--thus I am committed to keeping it.
I like barzun and think he's funny, witty, entertaining, and often insightful.
my favorite book of his is "begin here" because it is browsable, with short chapters. This is a harder read, but I enjoy it.
He has a nice treatment of the modern languages becoming decadent.
someth More...
I like barzun and think he's funny, witty, entertaining, and often insightful.
my favorite book of his is "begin here" because it is browsable, with short chapters. This is a harder read, but I enjoy it.
He has a nice treatment of the modern languages becoming decadent.
someth More...
