Age of Progress

Great Ages of Man

by Samuel C. Burchell

Join Time-Life Books in a wonderful photographic journey to the Age of Progress, with engaging text.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Reference, World History

192 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1920

Reviews

[Sara Joharshamshiri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first book I have ever read that was primarily about history, and there's a very simple reason for that: history books usually tend to be just too goddamned dull.
But not only did I read this, I actually read it twice and enjoyed it both times. In fact, I read it a second time BECAUSE I had enjoyed it so much the first time around.

It starts off with a description of the Great Exhibition of 1851 at the Crystal Palace (in delicious detail, I might add) then goes on to give a general overview of the advances in science and technology during the 19th century before turning to matters of finance and politics. It closes with an account of the events that lead up to WWI.

Here's a list of reasons why this book rocks:

1. The PICTURES!!!

I was reduced to a 4 year old when I first found TAoP between the library shelves and spent a solid hour just leafing through the book and looking at the pictures. Every section of the book (there are eight) is followed by a picture essay; and aside from being really really amusing, the picture essays helped me understand the main sections better. They also provided a break in the otherwise nonstop bombardment of information that would have been too much to process without the diversion.

2.The WIT

I don't exactly know what the standard procedure is for reviewing a history book and if this kind of thing counts as a plus in this context or not, but I for one appreciate wit wherever I can find it. Here are some examples:

"The Americans, optimistic and boldly self confident as always, had made the mistake of asking the directors of the exhibition for more space than they could fill. Consequently, their displays were punctuated at regular intervals by pyramids of soap and mounds of dental powder."

"among the small number of unclaimed lost articles were three petticoats and two bustles mysteriously left behind."

"these wonders were every bit as novel as the fanciful mechanical prophecies sketched centuries before by Leonardo da Vinci-only this time they worked."

3.The (touching) detail

Just the right amount, too, not enough to become boring but enough to make it real. This was particularly cool with regard to the Franco-Prussian war; the effect of the trivia combined with the facts was just bone-chilling.

"...The German Emperor also was to be allowed to lead his troops into Paris in a victory march...going home, Thiers(the French chief of government) wept. "

"The Kaiser ...had to leave the city with his troops. Parisians afterwards scrubbed their streets to erase the shame."

4. The context
Being used to reading primarily about what happened in England, I really appreciated being able to put England in a larger European context.

The book does have one drawback though. It's too freaking precious !!! The whole time I was reading it I was worrying about the destructive oils on my fingertips that were leaving imaginary smudges all over the place. It was an absolute delight to read, but I'll be honest, I'll be relieved when I finally return it to the Library. It's giving me nightmares.

[Jonathan Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finally finished reading all my Great Ages of Man books.
The Paris commune was pretty wild, loved the photo spread thing at the end.

[McCorm · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book rationalizes, defends, and condones abusive and exploitative imperialism. 'Nuf said (It also ignores histories, civilizations, and production in non-European countries before European colonization)

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Age of Progress is what Samuel C. Burchell and the political scientist Sir Denis Brogan is the era between the Great Exhibition in London, Great Britain, in 1851, and World War I in Europe (7). In 1966 Burchell published the edition of the Age of Progress. Burchell was a specialist in the literature of Victorian England at Yale University in Connecticut. Burchell was the author of a book on the history of the building of the Suez Canal in Egypt. Burchell also writes about the Suez Canal building in the Age of Progress (52-53). The Age of Progress was marked by significant technological and scientific discoveries and a general belief that these discoveries were a positive development (7). The Age of Progress was also marked by social unrest to the effect of industrialism in Europe, such as European Imperialism, Marxism, nationalism, and anarchism (56, 57, 74, 78, 82, 122). The book is for the series of Time-Life Books’ Great Ages of Man. Burchell'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 Progress in Europe. For example, modern historians are more pessimistic about the economic effects of European Imperialism on their colonies in Africa and Asia than Burchell was in 1966 (Burchell 56-57; DeLancey 112-114). Burchell’s Age of Progress has a chapter entitled “The Blessings of Science” (Burchell 29), which is an excellent summary of the scientific discoveries and technological innovation in the Age of Progress (Burchell 29-38). The book Age of Progress 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 Progress.
Work Cited:
DeLancey, Virginia. 2007. “The Economies of Africa” in Understanding Contemporary Africa, edited by April A. Gordon & Donald L. Gordon. Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc. Pages 109-154.
Burrell, Samuel C. 2016. The Suez Canal. Rockville, Maryland: American Heritage Publishing. Kindle.

[James Violand · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great summary of the era from Time/Life books.