No Title
Almost the exact same thing can be said of this 721 page tome as can be said for Durant's "The Age of Faith". I enjoyed every page, never bored, but how much will I retain? I suspect not a lot. I find I agree quite well with Spinoza, at least as explained by Durant, as I have not actually read Spinoza. And I had not realized how badly Louis XIV almost devastated France due to all his wars. Moliere was here, Racine, Thomas Hobbes, Newton, a powerhouse of thought in all fields of knowledge. Superstition and ignorance begin to be broken, from 1648 to 1715. Also liked what Pascal had to say about the universe and man. And Cromwell - what a figure! Milton too, Peter the Great. Fabulous age. Fabulous book.
ABSOLUTELY CAPTIVATING
Will Durant continues his wonderful series with this volume covering and important era which is quite often overlooked by our educational system. Much of what we are today has it's origins during this era. The Durants bring history to like with their wonderful text and use of language. These volumes, this one included, read more like a novel than a dry and dusty book of forgetable facts. I hate to use the word "lyrical" is describing Durant's style, but it is certainly close. The expierence of reading this volume, along with the others has been a wonderful expierence, one I would have not wanted to miss. Recommend this one, quite highly as I do the others.
The Eighth Volume in The Story of Civilization!
In this, the eighth volume in the landmark acclaimed series, "The Story of Civilization, Dr. Will & Ariel Durant have recounted the history of Europe's great age of kings.
The reader will be treated to a masterly exposition of: France's King Louis XIV. The dawn of modern drama, letters, and philosophy from Moliere, Spinoza, Locke, Hobbes, Berkeley and others. King Charles II of England. Isaac Netwon. Russia's Peter The Great. The War of Spanish Succession. And much, much more including plates and maps.
Written to stand alone or within the series, the Durants have written a prose of smooth flowing narrative that is easy to read and understand. In short, this unparalleled work is for everyone, both professional and layperson. I rate this work at five stars. Well done!
Sunrise, Sunset!
Over the past year I have read extensively about the 17th century. "The Age of Louis XIV" is the best book which I have found on the period. Volume VII of Will and Ariel Durant's multi-volume "Story of Civilization", this book documents more detail of the era than any others which I have read.The book begins with sections on France and England. The next section is "The Periphery" dealing with Russia, Poland, Scandinavia, Germany, Italy, and Iberia. After the geographically oriented sections, the reader is treated to sections organized along intellectual topics, such as science, philosophy, and faith and reason, which contain chapters dealing with specific philosophers or scientists. The conclusion wraps it all up with the denouement of Louis XIV.
This book makes the 17th century understandable. The premier character of the era was Louis XIV, the Sun King of France. During his reign, the policies of he and his ministers established France's day in the sun. Absolute ruler of the most populous and powerful kingdom in Western Europe, Louis made France the center of Western Civilization. On these pages we learn about the Fronde, the revolt by the nobility at the rising of his Sun, from which Louis acquired his life long aversion to Paris, Louis' aggressive support of Catholicism, while at the same time maintaining illicit personal relationships, and his generous support for the arts. This era, rich in French literature and theatre, as represented in Moliere, is revealed.
The forces threatening to rend the Catholic Church further asunder, as well as the relationship between King and Pope, are dealt with in detail. I was surprised to learn that Louis exercised a power over the Church in France similar to that which Henry VIII had previously established over the Church in England.
England, meanwhile, endured Cromwell, The Stuart Restoration, and the Glorious Revolution, while spawning Milton, Dryden, Swift and other literary giants.
Interesting contrasts are illustrated. Whereas in France the monarchy was strengthened into absolutism, England was making hesitating steps toward democracy. Whereas Louis excluded much of the nobility from government and military service, essentially forcing them into the role of idle rich, the English nobility gradually gained power and responsibility for the governance of their country. We can see how these trends may have encouraged the resentment of the aristocrats on the part of the French peasantry, which may have contributed to the intensity of feeling during The Terror of the French Revolution. By contrast, the empowerment of the English nobility may have helped solidify the tradition of peaceful political maturation.
On the Periphery, Charles XII brought Sweden to the zenith of its international power, while Peter the great modernized Russia. Germany survived the onslaught of the Turks, while Italy and Iberia, the "Old Europe" of the day, slid through an era of decline.
Intellectually the era was one of giants. Many of the names with which we are familiar come alive as we read of Isaac Newton, Thomas Hobbes, John Lock, Spinoza, Leibniz and others.
The conclusion of the era was the sunset of the Sun King. Having exhausted his country with dynastic war, bled it with unequal taxation and incurred the enmity of the world, Louis negotiated a peace which left his kingdom a shattered hulk of its former greatness.
For anyone desiring an introduction to the history of the 17th century, this is a great place to start. It has me ready for other books in the Durants' "Story of Civilization".
Amazing masterpiece.
Though the central figure of this book is Louix XIV, this book is not about French history, but about European history as a whole.
The focus of this book is not on political and military history but on the history of religion, art, literature, science and philosophy. Or I can say politics is deeply involved in religion, art, literature and philosophy. I have never studied European philosophy before, and I thought it would be exttremely difficult to understand philosophy. But while I was reading this book, I found that phlosophy could be much easier when it was explained in a political context of the times.And in this book English history was emphasized as much as French history. It is quite natural because Louis himself was deeply involved in and greatly responsible for the 17th century English history, and Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were Englishmen.
I believe that this book is the best book I've ever read. I'd like to read all 12 volumes of Will & Ariel Durant's "The History of Civilization" series.
By the way, I found 2 trivial mistakes in this book.
According to p 505, Halley identified another comet, seen in 1680, with one observed in the year of Christ's death; he traced its recurrence every 575 years, and from the periodicity he computed its orbit and speed around the sun. According to my own calculation, however, 575 x 2 + 33 = 1183, while 575 x 3 + 33 = 1758.
According to p 513, Mariotte amused his friends by showing that "cold" could burn: with a concave slab of ice he focused sunlight upon gunpowder, causing it to explode. To focus sunlight, however, we need a convex lens, not a concave lens.
