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)

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

different & refreshing

Mr. Johnson is superlative in his description and analysis. The first chapter gets you hooked.he provides a wonderful perspective on history that is different & refreshing. It is deep and rich with fantastic details and refernces. Amazing stuff.

Great review, with attitude!

Loved it. But I definitely had to keep reminding myself that the author had very "conservative" politics, so his explanations and tongue-in-cheek observations of history, while informative, are often quite politically opinionated.

It's always interesting to read historical interpretation of relativity "current" events 20 later, with the benefit of hindsight.

peaky audio, but great content

I found the audio could use some touching up -- it was a bit peaky which made it hard to listen to on some speakers (some sounds much louder than others).

the content itself is top notch. a very interesting tour through the craziness of the 20th century.

5 Stars Despite a Major Error

The Work: Wonderful! Paul Johnson’s ability to draw together huge subjects into a cohesive narrative is amazing.

The Performance: Marvelous! I love Nadia May’s reading, This is the Voice of Female Authority!

The Major Error: This is NOT the Revised edition (1991) as stated on the cover but the ORIGINAL edition of 1983. It’s essentially the same book except for the last chapter which, in the revised edition, covers the 1980s.

Still very much worth reading.

Production Misalignment

Great book.

Chapters don’t line up with audio chapters and actual book. Brings in a bit of confusion

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.