Rousseau and Revolution

The Story of Civilization, Book 10

De: Will Durant, Ariel Durant

Narrado por: Stefan Rudnicki

A History of Civilization in France, England, and Germany from 1756, and in the Remainder of Europe from 1715 to 1789

The Pulitzer Prize-winning volume on European civilization by acclaimed historians Will and Ariel Durant.

Rousseau and Revolution, the 10th volume of the Story of Civilization, ranges over a Europe in ferment, but centers on the passionate rebel-philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the great exponent of the romantic impulse toward self-exploration and social revolt, who contended with the great rationalist Voltaire for the mind of Europe. Rousseau condemned civilization as a disease, glorified the noble savage, proclaimed to the world with equal intensity his own love affairs and the natural rights of man, and became the patron saint of the revolution and the worldwide social upheavals of two centuries.

©1967 Will and Ariel Durant (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Likely the best of series

The narrator does the best job of any of the books - multiple languages and switching accents from English to French and to Irish as the case requires. Amazing. The profiled people range from amazing historical legends to galavanting rascals. Really really good.

Chapters Off

There are some chapters that are off. But overall this is a great book and worth listening

Revolution of the Mind and Government

Parts of this great work had too much detail which got a little tiresome on emphasizing infidelity of poets, kings, artists, and philosophers. However, maybe that’s what the authors thought would show these people’s vices that made them more human and less infallible. Once again this is another great work by the Durants.

Brilliant and entertaining history of 1700's and it's relevance to today

Having seen the Durant's volumes on history in libraries for fifty years, I felt daunted at starting to read this major work. However, Having listened to this volume, I regret not having read this years ago. The style is quite enjoyable and entertaining. The reader. Mr. Rudnick, is excellent. I hope to read the rest of these volumes before I die.

The Story of Civilization series is a graduate school education all by itself.

I bought the entire 11 volume series of texts decades ago from book-of-the-month club for $40 as a deal for joining. They claimed at the time that they were a $450.00 value. The books require careful reading for anyone who wants to retain much, but they are worth the trouble. I had never finished reading them when I found, to my surprise, that audio copies exist. So, I joined Audible and was delighted that they are half-price for members. Now my $15 per month membership will buy one volume (which is actually 6 separate downloads) each month. Now I can listen and read with my texts--good to have because Kindle doesn't offer them. I did the math and figured that the audio was worth the money, and it will take me a month to digest each volume, so worth the cost also with respect to the hours of entertainment and knowledge they impart.

This series has made me wonder why my own college education didn't include all the facts, impressions, personal relationships, famous quotes, letters, social customs, and more that Durant relates about every famous person who lived at the time, not just statesmen, but also writers, composers, painters, architects, mistresses and kings and others. For instance, Dostoevsky has in at least two of his novels characters proclaiming, "Apres moi, le deluge," so I knew when i read The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov that the characters were imitating Madame Pompadour. Besides, I am now able to answer so many Jeopardy questions!

If I didn't have the texts, I would trust in osmosis by audiobooks to educate me about this interesting period of European history. The series is the most ambitious writing ever attempted by almost a single person. The writing is simple and clear, but sends one to the dictionary sometimes, even though important footnotes are actually read by Stefan Rudnicki. His narration is fine, but I push the "back" button frequently only because I need to review the onslaught of facts.

This book and the entire series are certain to take your education to the next level.