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Sign up todayThe Age of Reason Begins
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Learn moreThis seventh volume of Will and Ariel Durant's renowned Story of Civilization chronicles the history of European civilization from 1558 to 1648.
The Age of Reason Begins brings together a fascinating network of stories in the discussion of the bumpy road toward the Enlightenment. This is the age of great monarchs and greater artists—on the one hand, Elizabeth I of England, Philip II of Spain, and Henry IV of France; on the other, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Montaigne, and Rembrandt. It also encompasses the heyday of Francis Bacon, Galileo, Giordano Bruno, and Descartes, the fathers of modern science and philosophy. But it is equally an age of extreme violence, a moment in which all Europe was embroiled in the horrible Thirty Years' War—in some respects, the real first world war. This chapter in cultural history is one that can't be missed.
Will Durant (1885–1981) was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He spent over forty years writing the critically acclaimed eleven-volume Story of Civilization. A champion of human rights issues long before they were popular, he continues to educate and entertain readers worldwide through his writings.
Ariel Durant (1898–1981), researcher and coauthor with her husband of The Story of Civilization, was jointly awarded the 1968 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. She was named the 1977 Woman of the Year by the city of Los Angeles.
Grover Gardner (a.k.a. Tom Parker) is an award-winning narrator with over a thousand titles to his credit. Named one of the “Best Voices of the Century” and a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine, he has won three prestigious Audie Awards, was chosen Narrator of the Year for 2005 by Publishers Weekly, and has earned more than thirty Earphones Awards.
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“Mr. and Mrs. Durant are admirably lucid…This is a book that can be commended very warmly.”
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