Age of Enlightenment

Great Ages of Man

by Basil Davidson

Great Ages of Man series from Time-Life Books, this volume featuring The Age of Enlightenment.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Reference, Philosophy

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

Basil Risbridger Davidson was an acclaimed British historian, writer and Africanist, particularly knowledgeable on the subject of Portuguese Africa prior to the 1974 Carnation Revolution .

He has written several books on the current plight of Africa. Colonialism and the rise of African emancipation movements have been central themes of his work.

He is an Honorary Fellow of the London School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).

From 1939, Davidson was a reporter for the London "Economist" in Paris, France. From December 1939, he was a Secret Intelligence Service (SIS)/MI-6 D Section (sabotage) officer sent to Budapest (see Special Operations Europe, chapter 3) to establish a news service as cover. In April 1941, with the Nazi invasion, he fled to Belgrade, Yugoslavia. In May, he was captured by Italian forces and was later released as part of a prisoner exchange. From late 1942 to mid-1943, he was chief of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) Yugoslav Section in Cairo, Egypt, where he was James Klugmann's supervisor. From January 1945 he was liaison officer with partisans in Liguria, Italy.

After the war, he was Paris correspondent for "The Times," "Daily Herald" ,"New Statesman", and the "Daily Mirror."

Since 1951, he became a well known authority on African history, an unfashionable subject in the 1950s. His writings have emphasised the pre-colonial achievements of Africans, the disastrous effects of the Atlantic Slave Trade, the further damage inflicted on Africa by European colonialism and the baleful effects of the Nation State in Africa.

Davidson's works are required reading in many British universities. He is globally recognized as an expert on African History.

He currently lives in Staffordshire.

Reviews

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

After watching an entertaining British series by Lucy Worsley about the French Revolution, specifically Marie Antoinette, I was intrigued to learn more. I looked in vain through my library but I was pleased to find one in my Husband’s or at least the period leading up to Marie’s demise. He has an almost complete set of the Time-Life book series of the Great Ages of Man.
I found this one, written by Peter Gay, easy to read, meaning it was not a dry historical text. It provided an encompassing overview of this age such as the philosophies, sciences, music, artisans and it is beautifully illustrated. In the appendix is a chronology of noteworthy events and people. I quite enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more in the series.
After reading this book, I discovered that I do have a book written from this time period, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon plus several essays by the “enlightenment” philosophers. These will have to wait though while I delve into my children’s section.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

When we cleared out my mother's house I found a box of these old Time Life 'Great Ages of Man' books (from the 1960s) and remembered reading this in middle school for a report of something. Such a pretty book and a really good overview of historical eras. Great, nostalgic read.

[Katarina Ningrum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ain't no one write a history as natural as the author. Somehow, it's educative but not in a dictating manner. Though, it's not losing the details and feelings inside. Great book!

[Ralph Wechuli · Rating 4 out of 5]

A period in time elaborated candidly.
Culture, politics, faith, reason and trade all at ago.
Interesting read...

[Manny Villa]

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[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The late German American Historian Peter Gay’s 1966 edition of the book Age of Enlightenment is a history of the Age of Enlightenment in Europe. For Gay, the era of the Age of Enlightenment in Europe lasted from 1687, when the Physicist Isaac Newton published his Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, until the French Revolution in the late 18th Century. The book is for the series of Time-Life Books’ Great Ages of Man. Gay’s book is probably dated, but it is still worth reading if one is interested in the historiography of the history of the Age of Enlightenment in Europe. I thought the book was an excellent introduction to why this Age of Enlightenment was a significant era and the major themes of the era. Gay writes very little on the women of the Age of Enlightenment, which I feel like histories of the Age of Enlightenment written after 1966 would spend more time on the women of Enlightenment and Gay’s book left me wanting to learn more about the women of the Age of Enlightenment. Gay defines the Age of Enlightenment as an intellectual movement made of intellectuals who believed in Newton's scientific teachings and John Locke's philosophy. These Enlightenment intellectuals such as the philosopher Immanuel Kant, Gay writes, “wanted men to shake off the hand of authority in politics and religion and think for themselves” (11). The enlightenment movement these intellectuals hoped would lead to less cruel and arbitrary governance in Europe and more personal freedom for thinkers like themselves (11). The enlightenment movement hugely influenced many aspects of European culture and society, including classical music, as seen in the music of Christoph Gluck, Franz Joseph Haydn, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (122). The book Age of Enlightenment is readable. The book has a beautiful layout, and a photo essay follows each chapter. At the end of the book, there is a Timeline. Even though it was dated, I did not regret reading the Age of Enlightenment.
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[S. Kallahan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good review of basic enlightenment history, but definitely on the traditional history side of things. Read Foucault as antidote, and the Israel as counterpoint. Still, fun to read with lots of pics.

[James Violand · Rating 4 out of 5]

A synopsis of how man became hooked on Reason and became anti-religious.

[Jonathan Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty interesting to see how the Enlightenment fitted into European history - setting the stage for the French Revolution. I never realized Voltaire was a pen-name.