|
|
Barzun, Jacques ListingsIf you cannot find what you want on this page, then please use our search feature to search all our listings. Click on Title to view full description
|
|
|
1 |
FROM DAWN TO DECADENCE: 500 YEARS OF WESTERN CULTURAL LIFE, 1500 TO THE PRESENT
Barzun, Jacques
2000 6080 A BOUT THE BOOK From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life, 1500 to the Present . Jacques Barzun is the dean of American intellectuals. From Dawn to Decadence is, in many ways, the crowning achievement of his long career. Not just cursory summary that one might expect of a book of this breadth, this 500-year study represents a major reexamination of Western cultural life, where it has gone, and where it is going. As the New York Times reviewer put it, "in short.peerless." FROM THE PUBLISHER Highly regarded here and abroad for some thirty works of cultural history and criticism, master historian Jacques Barzun has now set down in one continuous narrative the sum of his discoveries and conclusions about the whole of Western culture since 1500. In this account, Barzun describes what Western Man wrought from the Renaissance and Reformation down to the present in the double light of its own time and our pressing concerns. He introduces characters and incidents with his usual literary style and grace, bringing to the fore those that have been forgotten or obscured. His compelling chapters--such as "Puritans as Democrats," "The Monarchs' Revolution," "The Artist Prophet and Jester"--show the recurrent role of great themes throughout the eras. The triumphs and defeats of five hundred years form an inspiring saga that modifies the current impression of one long tale of oppression by white European males. Women and their deeds are prominent, and freedom (even in sexual matters) is not an invention of the last decades. And when Barzun rates the present not as a culmination but a decline, he is in no way a prophet of doom. Instead, he shows decadence as the normal close of great periods and a necessary condition of the creative novelty that will burst forth--tomorrow or the next day. Only after a lifetime of separate studies covering a broad territory could a writer create with such ease the synthesis displayed in this magnificent volume. SYNOPSIS In the last half-millennium, as the noted cultural critic and historian Jacques Barzun observes, great revolutions have swept the Western world. Each has brought profound change-for instance, the remaking of the commercial and social worlds wrought by the rise of Protestantism and by the decline of hereditary monarchies. And each, Barzun hints, is too little studied or appreciated today, in a time he does not hesitate to label as decadent. To leaf through Barzun's sweeping, densely detailed but lightly written survey of the last 500 years is to ride a whirlwind of world-changing events. Barzun ponders, for instance, the tumultuous political climate of Renaissance Italy, which yielded mayhem and chaos, but also the work of Michelangelo and Leonardo and, he adds, the scientific foundations for today's consumer culture of boom boxes and rollerblades. He considers the 16th-century varieties of religious experimentation that arose in the wake of Martin Luther's 95 theses, some of which led to the repression of individual personality, others of which might easily have come from the Me Decade. Along the way, he offers a miniature history of the detective novel, defends Surrealism from its detractors, and derides the rise of professional sports, packing in a wealth of learned and often barbed asides. Never shy of controversy, Barzun writes from a generally conservative position; he insists on the importance of moral values, celebrates the historical contributions of Christopher Columbus, and twits the academic practitioners of political correctness. Whether accepting of those views or not, even the most casual reader will find much that is new or little-explored in thisattractive venture into cultural history. FROM THE CRITICS John Gross - Wall Street Journal In ' From Dawn to Decadence' Mr. Barzun shepards us through five centuries of Western cultures. The book is so readable, and its handling of even familiar matters so fresh, is its civilized, conversational, witty, HarperTrade 0060175869 / 9780060175863
Hardcover As New As New Book Jacket New York
Price:
44.55 USD
|
|
Add to Shopping Cart Now (Easily removed if you change your mind!) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Barzun, Jacques on Akrosbooks.com
Barzun, Jacques on Amwellbookcompany.co.uk
Barzun, Jacques on Beaglebooks.com
Barzun, Jacques on Beckhambooks.com
Barzun, Jacques on Bibliodisia.com
Barzun, Jacques on Bluecatbooks.com
Barzun, Jacques on Bookshopbaltimore.com
Barzun, Jacques on Boox.ca
Barzun, Jacques on Cozybookcellar.com
Barzun, Jacques on Cupboardmaker.com
Barzun, Jacques on Darkwoodbooks.com
Barzun, Jacques on Diatropebooks.com
Barzun, Jacques on Dunbarbooks.com
Barzun, Jacques on Eastridingbooks.co.uk
Barzun, Jacques on Firsteditiontoo.com
Barzun, Jacques on Foxfirebooks.com
| Barzun, Jacques on Goodwillbooks.com
Barzun, Jacques on Greensleevesbooks.co.uk
Barzun, Jacques on Grendelbooks.com
Barzun, Jacques on Hoffmansbookshop.com
Barzun, Jacques on Infinitybooksjapan.com
Barzun, Jacques on Johnbalebooks.com
Barzun, Jacques on Johnrbelliveaubookseller.com
Barzun, Jacques on Leftcoastbooks.us
Barzun, Jacques on Leonsbookstore.com
Barzun, Jacques on Maplehillbooks.com
Barzun, Jacques on Midwaybook.com
Barzun, Jacques on Montclairbookcenter.com
Barzun, Jacques on Mybookiejoint.com
Barzun, Jacques on Nightheronbooks.com
Barzun, Jacques on Pellabooks.com
Barzun, Jacques on Penobscotbooks.com
| Barzun, Jacques on Riversedgebooks.com
Barzun, Jacques on Robinsrarebooks.com
Barzun, Jacques on Sandyaco.com
Barzun, Jacques on Seattlebookcenter.com
Barzun, Jacques on Studiobookshop.co.uk
Barzun, Jacques on Svirdenbooks.com
Barzun, Jacques on Swantradingcompany.com
Barzun, Jacques on Thatusedbookstore.com
Barzun, Jacques on Thebookscene.com
Barzun, Jacques on Thebooksend.com
Barzun, Jacques on Websterbookstore.com
Barzun, Jacques on Wisestreetbooks.com
Barzun, Jacques on Yesteryearbooks.co.uk
|
|
|
