Dark Brilliance

The Age of Reason: From Descartes to Peter the Great

By: Paul Strathern

Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble

During the 1600s—between the end of the Renaissance and the start of the Enlightenment—Europe lived through an era known as The Age of Reason. This was a revolutionary period that saw great advances in areas such as art, science, philosophy, political theory, and economics.

However, all this was accomplished against a background of extreme political turbulence on a continental scale, in the form of internal conflicts and international wars. Indeed, the Age of Reason itself was born at the same time as the Thirty Years' War, which would devastate central Europe to an extent that would not be experienced again until World War I. This period also saw the development of European empires across the world, as well as a lucrative new transatlantic commerce that brought transformative riches to Western European society. However, there was a dark underside to this brilliant wealth: it was dependent upon human slavery.

By exploring all the key events and bringing to life some of the most influential characters of the era—including Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Newton, Descartes, Spinoza, Louis XIV, and Charles I—acclaimed historian Paul Strathern tells the vivid story of this paradoxical age, while also exploring the painful cost of creating the progress and modernity upon which the Western world was built.

©2025 Paul Strathern (P)2024 WF Howes, Limited

GREAT AND INSPIRING PANORAMA OF A PERIOD OF HSTORY

GOOD DESCRITION OF ARTISTIC WORKS AND VALUABLE INTRODUCTIION TO THE PHILOSOPHY, FINANCE, ART, AND POLITICAL HISTORY OF THE PERIOD. VERY WELL READ.

Short biographies of some of the most profound and influential people that lived and molded the Age of Reason

The good, the bad and the ugly of some of the most brilliant minds of the Age of Reason.

Learned albeit anecdotal

The author evidences a passion for his topic. The book is a series of mini biographies of luminary persons in the arts, sciences, literature etc that changed our understanding of reason. However, the book doesn’t rise above being a series of such anecdotes. There is no unifying theme or narrative that places the contributions of these people into a larger context with its ramifications and consequences for subsequent history. While I learned more about key people, I did not get to know what the age of reason meant to humanity.