Modern Times

The World from the Twenties to the Nineties

By: Paul Johnson

Narrated by: Nadia May

Length: 37 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

Named one of the Best Books of the Year in 1983 by the New York Times, this fast-paced, all-encompassing narrative history covers the great events, ideas, and personalities of the six decades following the end of World War I. It offers a full-scale, if controversial, analysis of how the modern age came into being and where it is heading.

Beginning with May 29, 1919, when photographs of the solar eclipse confirmed the truth of Einstein's theory of relativity, Johnson goes on to describe Freudianism, the establishment of the first Marxist state, the chaos of "Old Europe", the Arcadian 20s, and the new forces in China and Japan. Also discussed are Karl Marx, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Roosevelt, Gandhi, Castro, Kennedy, Nixon, the '29 crash, the Great Depression, Roosevelt's New Deal, and the massive conflict of World War II.

©1983 Paul Johnson (P)1988 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"Johnson's insights are often brilliant and of value in their startling freshness." (Los Angeles Times)
"Frequently surprises, even startles us with new views of past events and fresh looks at the characters of the chief world movers and shakers, in politics, the military, economics, science, religion, and philosophy of six decades." (The Wall Street Journal)
"Truly a distinguished work of history...Modern Times unites historical and critical consciousness. It is far from being a simple chronicle, though a vast wealth of events and personages and historical changes fill it....We can take a great deal of intellectual pleasure in this book." (The New York Times)

A must

Overall the book is great. Very well read but sound lacks volume. I certainly recommend it.

Challenging for a liberal to read

Johnson has a great sense of narrative and real moral outrage about the evils of communist and fascist totalitarianism. For this liberal it was a stunning and provocative view of history from the conservative angle.

That said, he refuses to criticize dictators who were on the US side and even excuses their crimes in a way he never excuses communists. The chapter on the Spanish Civil War is absurd, and his critiques of intellectuals and "east coast elites" are simplistic and Nixonian in their transparent resentment.

More conservative take

on the 20th century. A compelling read.

Amazing view of the XX century.

Undoubtedly one of the most compressive views of one the most transformative (and violent) times in the collective history of humanity.

Listen to the Sample first

Paul Johnson is a historical genius in the wilderness. However, you should listen to the narrator sample before purchasing this. I may be old and losing some of my touch on hearing, but I found the narrator often hard to understand, or let her strong voice tail off at the end of sentences.

Fantastic overview of 20th-century history

As someone born in the 70s and raised in the 80s, this book recounts my history. It synthesizes much of what I lived through as a young American watching the world, and what I learned as a young American about 20th century history in school. (Although Johnson is much more thorough and much more in depth than anything I learned in school.) Johnson's critique of political zealotry and false hope in Marxist ideology is spot on. The possibility of leaving the evils of the 20th Century for a more hope-filled 21st century, which Johnson pines for in the final paragraph of the revised edition of this book, seem doubtful at best.

Very well studied and researched

Very well studied and researched even though I did not agree with ieverything. Probably understated the impact of Kissinger on American foreign policy. Overall I would recommend this book which covers a vast amount of events over nearly a century. Even during the course of one century there is large amount of empirical evidence suggesting the greater degree of economic freedom in the greater the rule of law the better off and more prosperous a people will be. A good acknowledgement of the flaws in social engineering and the social sciences more broadly

Excellent book, poor recording

Where does Modern Times rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Low in the top 30th percentile - content would be top 10% but the recording is almost unbearable.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

I think she did a fine job although as an American, her accent makes her harder to understand. However it is truly the poor recording quality that makes this a problem. I'm an audio engineer myself, so these things irritate me greatly. If this was properly processed with eq and compression especially, it would be a MUCH more enjoyable listen probably 4 star)! Also, there is background noise like voices in the adjacent room. This is also distracting. I also think that the narrator's use of French and German accents are superfluous.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No way!

Eye Opening

The only negative I have is that if you don't have a back story on some of the figures and events, it is tough to follow in some parts. However, the amount of eye openers when an event is laid out in a fashion different from the way you are first receiving that information is quite shocking. Johnson does a great job of tying events of the 20th century into a cohesive unit that doesn't really miss a beat even with a mere 37 hours of audio. Overall one of the most impressive books I've read in my lifetime

Paul Johnson is the historian everyone should read

Probably my 4th or 5th book by Paul Johnson and I love them all. He writes with such panache and with such passion for the study of human history.