Novus Ordo Seclorum

By: Forrest McDonald

Narrated by: Daniel Laurence

Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's Summary

The title translated means "a new order for the ages" and, it being the motto on the Great Seal of the United States, is seen on the reverse side of the dollar bill. This audiobook explains both how and why the events that occurred in Philadelphia in September 1787 ushered in "a new order" in human affairs.

McDonald deftly recreates the intellectual dimension of the amazing 55 men whose genius and passion gave to us the United States Constitution. It was this work that was primarily responsible for Forrest McDonald's appointment as the 1987 Jefferson Lecturer in the Humanities, the highest scholarly recognition offered annually by the U.S. government through its National Endowment for the Humanities.

©1985 University of Kansas Press (P)1989 Blackstone Audiobooks

Brilliant

This book might start awkwardly for one accustomed to less academic works. But hang in there, if you like bright, clear, disciplined presentation of big ideas, in depth, with enough history to make sense of it all. I always wanted to dig further into "liberty," "property," "pursuit of happiness," and such ideas, feeling unsatisfied with the shallow syntheses I saw dished up and tossed about in popular books and media. Well, here is a deep exploration of the thinkers and thoughts that fed into the foundations of our society and legal systems (and now much of the world's), and it is so listenable, so well put. This might stand as my favorite audiobook to date (among hundreds). This work goes much further than my law school education did. And where there were a variety of thoughts and positions on these themes among the thought leaders of the day (as of course there were), we get a fine survey, rather than some pre-bent sale-job of one side. That's good scholarship. The next time some blowhard starts bloviating about what the founders supposedly thought and meant, I'll be ready.

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

Major academic work

Usually you have to give up a few things when you get the audio version of a book -- like the footnotes. Imagine my surprise, then, when I saw this title get treated as an honest-to-goodness academic book, with everything getting read, including the footnotes, which are actually full of little insights.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

All History is Revisionist

Forrest McDonald wrote this book with a clear propensity to put those who framed the U.S. constitution in a very positive light. This in and of itself, is NOT a bad or inappropriate choice. It does prove however, that all historical writing is revisionist; this also is not a good or bad thing, it is part of the human condition.

My main discontent with Novus Ordo Seclorum, is with the fact that current American circumstances clearly put the framers in a the position of not seeing the future clearly. One example of this is the U.S. Congress; with its constitutionally provided authority, authorized a national debt that is utterly destructive of individual liberty, and national sovereignty!

Great history in the philosophical ideas that created the Constitution

The story and history is amazing and captivating. The narration is very dry and has a tendency to put one to sleep. It would have been much better with a more enthusiastic narrator;)