Rousseau and Revolution

The Story of Civilization, Book 10

By: Will Durant, Ariel Durant

Narrated by: 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.

Long Lead Up to Revolution

This is the 10th book of the 11 book excellent, integrated history, Story of Civilization series. For my review of the series as a whole see my review of “Our Oriental Heritage”. Although this is not my favorite volumes it was pretty darn good. This volume starts with the seven year war, covers Rousseau, Kant, Goethe, Mozart, Samuel Johnson, the dynamics leading up to the French Revolution are set out. The volume ends as the revolution begins. Here the best and the worst of both Rousseau and Voltaire are discussed. The writing seems quite present day, and the influences of these two poles of modern liberalism on politics today are extraordinary.

The narration is excellent, capturing the author’s quirky humor and restrained passion. I recommend this series to anyone.