The Birth of the Modern: World Society 1815-1830

Product Description
[Audiobook CD Library Edition in vinyl case.]

[Read by Wanda McCaddon]


A New York Times Notable Book for 1991

This is an extraordinary chronicle of the fifteen years, 1815-1830, that laid the foundations of modern society. It is a history of people, ideas, politics, manners, morals, economics, art, science and technology, diplomacy, business and commerce, literature, and revolution.

From Wellington at Waterloo and Jackson at New Orleans to the surge of democratic power and reform, this tumultuous period saw the United States transform itself from an ex-colony into a formidable nation, Britain become the first industrial world power, Russia develop the fatal flaws that would engulf her in the twentieth century, and China and Japan set the stage for future development and catastrophe. Provocative, challenging, and listenable, this remarkable story is told through the lives and actions of its outstanding, curious, and ordinary people.
Review
''Fascinating . . . A savory social history, spiced with lively gossip . . . It is never dull. In many ways a tour de force.'' --
New York Times Book Review

''Amazing . . . Crowded with wonderful portraiture, heroic feats of intellect and imagination . . . Reads at times like one of the novels it describes so brilliantly.'' --
Wall Street Journal

''A colossal effort of energy and imagination.'' --Hugh Thomas, author of
Rivers of Gold

''A considerable achievement . . . Immensely readable . . . Readers will learn a lot from
The Birth of the Modern and have a good time while they're at it.'' --
Newsday

''We meet an enormous gallery of brilliant, eccentric, and (especially the poets) licentious characters . . . The author's sheer enthusiasm [makes] the tiniest fragments of recorded history burst with light and color.'' --
Los Angeles Times Book Review

''Marvelously readable.'' --
Publishers Weekly

''Johnson . . . is a master of vigorous narratives on epic topics. Astoundingly, he writes with fascination about events and movements in virtually all fields of human endeavor . . . A lively and readable history.'' --
Kirkus Reviews

''Lively . . . Provocative.'' --
Library Journal
About the Author
PAUL JOHNSON is a historian whose work ranges over the millennia and the whole gamut of human activities. He regularly writes book reviews for several UK magazines and newspapers, such as the
Literary Review and the
Spectator, and he lectures around the world. He lives in London.