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Great Ages of Man
Age of Kings
Join Time-Life Books, Great Ages of Man Series, on a wonderful photographic journey to the Age of Kings with engaging text.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1966
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 13, 2015
Fantastic comprehensive resource for studying European dynasties, particularly during the often neglected 17th century. Light, easy to read narrative scattered liberally with delicious details of the people involved---the People magazine for serious historians. :)
March 4, 2014
This is a volume in Time-Life Books' "The Great Ages of Man" series of historical mini-books, which was is now out of print.
This was a fun, brisk history of 17th Century Europe. The author employed a rounded and general approach in historical focus (giving a fair amount of attention to military, geopolitical and cultural history), and a surveying level of detail which synthesizes these into a surprisingly unified account, given its size. Variable thematic perspective in this regard, unabashedly generalized and meant to capture the essence of the period without becoming too engrossed in detail, is still woven together with a strong narrative framework, I found. For such a small work dealing with an entire century, the balance here was very impressive and nice. Mr. Blitzer writes with a engrossing and clear style, too, and for this reason I was disappointed to find out that he had not written much else. There is also a multiplicity of nice, encyclopedia-like illustrations, and a little 'cutscene' portion at the back of each chapter, delving into a particular, historically-rooted theme in more detail independent of the narrative (such as descriptions of London through the diary entries of Samuel Pepys, reflecting on daily life there).
The essence (or at least, what historianship can decipher of it), the conflicts and triumphs of the century are well presented, giving a good 'feel' for the era, and serving as a nice springboard into a more detailed study at a later time. I myself had a little bit of superficial knowledge of the 17th century beforehand, and, regarding it as perhaps my favorite century of history, my mind was not changed after reading this rare, nice little history.
This was a fun, brisk history of 17th Century Europe. The author employed a rounded and general approach in historical focus (giving a fair amount of attention to military, geopolitical and cultural history), and a surveying level of detail which synthesizes these into a surprisingly unified account, given its size. Variable thematic perspective in this regard, unabashedly generalized and meant to capture the essence of the period without becoming too engrossed in detail, is still woven together with a strong narrative framework, I found. For such a small work dealing with an entire century, the balance here was very impressive and nice. Mr. Blitzer writes with a engrossing and clear style, too, and for this reason I was disappointed to find out that he had not written much else. There is also a multiplicity of nice, encyclopedia-like illustrations, and a little 'cutscene' portion at the back of each chapter, delving into a particular, historically-rooted theme in more detail independent of the narrative (such as descriptions of London through the diary entries of Samuel Pepys, reflecting on daily life there).
The essence (or at least, what historianship can decipher of it), the conflicts and triumphs of the century are well presented, giving a good 'feel' for the era, and serving as a nice springboard into a more detailed study at a later time. I myself had a little bit of superficial knowledge of the 17th century beforehand, and, regarding it as perhaps my favorite century of history, my mind was not changed after reading this rare, nice little history.
June 19, 2022
Political Scientist Charles Blitzer’s 1967 edition of the book entitled Age of Kings, is a history of Europe in the era of the 17th Century when the modern European states, such as England, France, and Russia were politically formed (7). A towering figure in Blitzer’s book is King Louis XIV, whose reign from 1643 until 1715 created modern France (56, 184-185). It is worth noting, that King Louis XIV was 5 years old when his reign started, so he only became a direct ruler of France in 1661 when his Prime Minister, Cardinal Mazarin died in 1661 (56). During his reign, France became a major political and cultural power in Europe (68, 121). The book is for the series of Time-Life Books’ Great Ages of Man. In 1967, Charles Blitzer was the Director of the Institute of Education and Training at the Smithsonian Institution. Blitzer wrote several books about political thought in 17th Century Europe. The book covers the Ages of Kings in Europe from the start of the reign of James I of England in 1603 until the death of King Louis XIV in 1715 (184-185). The book also covers the Literature, Art, and Science of the Reformation era from the career of astronomer Johannes Kepler until the career of the philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (184-185). Blitzer's book, though quite old, is a well-done introduction to the era of the Age of Kings. Age of Kings is readable. The book has a beautiful layout. A photo essay follows each chapter. A timeline is at the end of the book. The book has around 185 pages not including the timeline. Even though it was dated I did not regret spending time reading the book, Age of Kings.
November 2, 2018
This book provides much needed insight into a part of history that many seem to either forget or learn about at all. From the Thirty Years War to the death of the last Spanish Hapsburg, this is truly a great read for those who seek knowledge.
May 28, 2020
No idea why it took me so long to read this.
July 11, 2008
This whole series is fabulous, but I am a sucker for historical series. :)
June 25, 2014
A very good, broad history of monarchical Europe.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews