Rating: 
Summary: History by a Frenchman
Review: Can you believe it? The author rates the French Revolution well ahead of the American Revolution in importance!!
Rating:
Summary: dull tome
Review: The author, an esteemed scholar, provides a history of everyone you never heard of. Unfortunately, he fails to bring these obscure characters to life, or to demonstrate why the general reader should care about them.
Rating:
Summary: Neither Here nor There
Review: First, an admission: I gave up after page 622--or was it 627? A peek ahead at the chapter on cubist painters was all it took to firm my resolve. If your idea of history amounts to little more than literary and art criticism, this cinder block of a book is for you. If you enjoy flaccid, desultory prose of the Old Testament variety, count yourself doubly blessed, for Barzun has seen fit to couch his random observations in prose so turgid its formula should be sold to Ciba-Geigy as the world's most effective cure for insomnia. Really. Barzun spends an inordinate amount of time--praising--brace yourself for this one--French cultural achievements. There is no discernible relationship between the various sections of the book; the work suffers mightily from the lack of a central argument, resulting in an inertia that is difficult for all but the most masochistic of readers to overcome. When I finally put this monster down yesterday for good, a wave of relief washed over me, cleansing me of bad-student guilt and allowing the eager anticipation of other works to take its place. The first fifty pages of "Guns, Germs and Steel" have been much more rewarding.
Rating: 
Summary: A brilliant primer
Review: I have just put down this 800-page survey of the Western civilisation, and I must agree with one of the previous one-star reviewers that it indeed was a struggle to read. However, it was a rewarding struggle, for after the patient effort I felt like a whole world had opened up to me little by little. Without going into details of what was and was not covered by Barzun (and it was wonderfully refreshing not to see another tedious rant about World War II occupying the pages), I can only account for the new impulse I gained: it inspired me to learn more of the many forgotten gems of Western culture that the author was apt to lift from obscurity with great and sincere passion. I may not agree with many of his stances, but what some of the reviewers have called pomposity and patronising dismissal I would rather regard as unwavering confidence of an incredibly learned mind. Those of you who shudder and lose heart seeing unusual words and a page cound above 150 are children of the decadence that Barzun so eloquently describes--ridden by impatience, desire for cheap and fast thrills, and unwillingness to think and appreciate. I am one, too, but trying to recover.By the way, he does not judge decadence; it is for him a stage in a succession leading to a revival of forgotten treasures of mind. Sooner or later it has to happen.
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Summary: Everyone Should Read It, But who is?
Review: One of the shortest trips in history on the New York Times Best Seller List. Yet, everyone should master its contents as a short course in becoming a Rennaissance Person. There's an implied presmise here, which is that "everyone should be a Rennaissance Person." Why not? Of course making the course cuts down on Television. I have appreciated Barzun ever since his "House of Intellect" suggested we are becoming a PhD-acy, or as John Stuart Mill feared, are licensing brains. This book is a great road map to the world of literature that makes it unnecessary to attend school and get your ticket punched in order to be educated. As Thomas Carlyle pointed out: "The only real education in any era is a good library." I quote from memory and this may not be literally what he wrote. Of course that statement also implies that one reads and comprehends what they read in that library. The reader will not always be on familiar ground with "From Dawn to Decadence," and may take issue with Barzun's notion that we are over the hill. I do. I feel we have at least one or two more good Imperialistic Wars in us of the variety that will be decried by those who profit most from them. Also, be prepared to have lots of reference works at your elbow as you delve into Jaques. I do anyhow, but had to run for the libary every once in awhile. If you have a laptop, make the equivalent of flash cards to review what you didn't know. (And if you don't have a laptop, make the flash cards.) Christ how smart you'll sound at some future cocktail party. And please, please do put some of it to use. For example if a Crusade arises trying to overcome the great misconception that shooling automatically equates to education, join it. Not recommended for the congenitally dull and no danger they'll try it in most cases. I wonder where all those copies of this book went that were purchased when it was on the New York Times Best Seller list. Are they ostentatiously displayed on coffee tables? Mine isn't. I'm rereading it and stuffing all those good notes into my laptop. Stay away from me if you don't wish to be sloshed with erudition. And, thanks Jaques. Even if you did remind me that we are all comparative ignoramuses. At least I'm trying to do something about it.
Rating:
Summary: A Precious Resource
Review: People have criticized this book because the author seems to have an editorial perspective. I find him to be an excellent critical thinker who draws insightful conclusions and has the brilliance to identify consequences. Barzun had my attention from the first chapter where he made me wonder if the entire reformation sparked by Luther was an unintended consequence enabled by the newly introduced printing press. Don't miss this. It is lots of work, but the payoff is enormously fulfilling.
Rating:
Summary: Wish I could give it 10 stars...
Review: This is only a masterpiece. For one mind to have the breadth of knowledge required to synthesize this much of Western history and culture is asounding. To do it in such compelling prose when over ninety is beyond astounding. Get it and take real journey through time, space, the human mind and spirit. Don't let the length put you off. It can just as easily be read in sections. This is a wonderful second chance at the real Liberal Education you slept through in college. Don't miss it.
Rating: 
Summary: over my head
Review: Call me a jaded product of the late twentieth century, but certain of the author's attitudes and certain of the implications he makes in his narrative remind me too much of someone insecure about their feeling of irrelevance in the larger world--i.e., the world outside academia. As is all too often the sad fate of academic intellectuals, Dr. Barzun seems blinded by his insistence to apply an intellectual rigor to the study of history vis a vis the downfall of the culture he holds in such high regard. The last hundred pages of the book read like a testament to his insecurity that Western civilization is quickly slouching toward a low-brow hell (to borrow Bork's thesis). This is old hat, of course. No matter how much one might loathe Britney Spears, Eminem and any number of other pop icons of the past 50 (100?) years, one must remember that in his day, Shakespeare was considered a playwright as Redd Foxx was considered a comedian: bawdy but very talented and observant. How are we to be so arrogant as to judge the recent past from such a lofty perspective as Dr. Barzun wants us to? We simply can't, and it is on this note that his book falls on his own arrogance.
Rating:
Summary: Very Readable and Insightful Book
Review: My sister recommended this book to me during our vacation together. I could not put her copy down and when we got to the bookstore I purchased my own! I found it is very readable and it gives you a good picture of the philosophies, people and events that have shaped our culture today. I am a teacher(third grade)and found it helpful to put names and ideas together. Barzun is very well read and he is able to connect ideas in different areas such as the arts and sciences providing good insights. I found it fascinating and have been talking to everyone I know about this book! I also just read the Seekers by Daniel Boorstin. It is a good book but I enjoyed Barzun better.
Rating:
Summary: Fine but flawed account of modern cultural development.
Review: Historian Jacques Barzun has written a wonderful account of the development and history of modern Western culture, an account that perhaps only he could have written. 94 years old and a lifetime student of Western history (who has apparently forgotten nothing he has ever learned) Barzun is uniquely able to chronicle and comment on the cultural currents that have made the last half millenium such a singular period in history. His elegant, clever prose makes the profundity of his observations easy to read and consider. One caveat: this is a cultural history. Barzun assumes the reader's knowledge of the basic chronology of events (your Western Civ text will cover that) and uses the reader's knowledge toframe his descriptions. For example he spends five pages discussing the "savants", the scientists who accompanied Napoleon to Egypt, while virtually ignoring the Napoleonic Wars themselves. The reader should be aware of this prerequisite. Barzun more or less defines his "culture" as "the evolution of art, science, religion, philosophy and social thought" peculiar to Europe and, eventually the Americas over the last five hundred years. He describes "an endless series of opposites in religion, politics, art, morals and manners..." and "...a set of ideas and institutions not found earlier or elsewhere...a unity combined with enormous diversity...The West has been the mongrel civilization par excellence." He defines an era as "a span of 500 years or more, time enough foran evolving culture to work ut its possibilities" and ages as "distinctive spans within an era." the author begins the modern age with two developments, the Reformation and the invention of the printing press. These developments allowed thinkers to challenge the earthly omnipotence of the Roman Church, to relatively rapidly convey their thoughts to one another and to translate works into their own languages, resulting in EMANCIPATION of thought. Barzun uses small caps to underline several defining, recurrent cultural trendsduring the age. The others are INDIVIDUALISM, SELF CONSCIOUSNESS (both tied to emancipation) ANANYSIS, ABSTRACTION (often connected), SCIENTISM, REDUCTIONISM and PRIMITIVISM (a frequent reaction to excesses of the others. He proceeds in a linear narrative through his eras, (Renaissince, Classical, Romantic, Victorian and Modern). He oc- casionally pauses to examine a cultural cross section of a par- ticular city during a particular year. Although in principle this is a nice touch its application is uneven. His account of 1540 Madrid is richly descriptive of court life; he also explains how uncontrolled importation of New World silver led to rampant European inflation, resulting in Bodin's study of the relation between the value of goods and the supply of money in circulation. However his "Weimar, 1790" is uneven, with an unconnected digression on the American Revolution included. (I guess it had to go somewhere). Along the way he explodes somy mythe. Leonardo was not the consummate Renaissance Man, the intolerant Puritans were not nearly as puritannical as believed and Shakespeare's acceptance as a great playwright waxed and waned with literary fashion until the onset of "bardolatry" in the early 19th century. He describes the evolution of the Artist's place in society, the rise of nation states with powerful monarchs (opposed to kinge) and the ascendence of the bourgeoisie, first used to break the power of the nobility by Louis XIV. He explains the difference between a "tale" and a "novel", and between "speech" and "prose". He marks the early Romanticist era as the moment at which Western social thought shifted; when the betterment of Humankind's lot became feasible. Barzun frequently pauses to comment on work of some interesting thinker, often well-known (e.g.Goethe) sometimes almost forgotten (Tasso) or unexpected (Florence Nightingale). He includes "an interlude" arguing that history overlooking Robert Burton's "Anatomy" is "without excuse." Four times he pauses for a "digression on a word". He explores the ambiguous, sometimes conflicting meanings of man (as in human), genius, romantic and pragmatic, and explains how he chooses to use these words. Barzun examines the changing status of women in society. He points out that, at least among the upper classes, during the Renaissance they were the approximate equals of men and that gender relations' low point was probably the Victorian era. He traces the history of evolution from its pre-Darwinian flickers through to its current state of broad acceptance, as well as some divergent aberrations such as phrenology and the bizarre racial theories which led to the rise of National Socialism. I don't think I've encountered a better writer than Barzun at disatilling complex ideas and presenting them succinctly. In a paragraph he fully explains the Zeitgeist of the Romantic Era, in two pages he crystallizes the Pragmatic philosophy of William James. One short chapter lays out the history of the turbulent turn of the last century, which he labels "The Cubist Decade". Throughout the book his thoughts are clear, his facts well ordered and his misses insignificant (the Gateway Arch does not span the Mississippi River). Where Barzun fails however, is his analysis of our current cultural state. His clear threads of continuity suddennly disappear and we are left with an enumeration of the cultural ills of our time. He does not take the time to examine any con- tradictions inherent in our cultural trends. For example he (justifiably) decries the loss of academic standards in university curricula but never speculates that this may be an unintended consequence of the opening of higher education to the working classes (EMANCIPATION). When a less than prosperous individual is able to attend college he is entitled to expect that one benefit will be the means to raise his station in life. It's not that far a jump from this (adminable) proposition (education as means to social mobility) to the inane belief that college is just a glorified trade school. Barzun never really examines the corrent era in this way. Nevertheless the book is an exceptionally good read, profound, well written and clear. Barzun has done a service in summarizing his life's work and it's worth the effort.
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