The World in 1800 - Hardcover

Bernier, Olivier

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0471303712 ISBN 13: 9780471303718

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 2000

Synopsis

Bernier provides us with a riveting chronicle of that time, so vastly different from our own yet so pregnant with meaning for us as we embark upon a new century. From Europe?s bloodstained landscape to the prosperous ports and homesteads of a nascent United States, from the Spanish dominions of Central and South America to the slave trading posts of Africa?s Gold Coast and the lavish interiors of China?s Forbidden City, Bernier takes us on a dizzying journey around the world, providing a finely textured portrait of civilization at the dawn of the modern era.

About this title

Review:

The world two centuries ago was much unlike our own--but closer in spirit to our own time than to the century that preceded it. Across the globe, writes Olivier Bernier, a sense had spread that it was possible for individuals of whatever social station to be free and make their own place in life; although everywhere there was still "a radical separation between the well to do and the rest of the population," the example of revolutionary America and revolutionary France set in motion forces that would lead to the growth of democracy and internationalism alike. Bernier charts this growth and the parallel rise of empires, nationalism, and world trade. He offers some surprising, and fresh, interpretations of history along the way. For instance, he suggests that the restaurant as we know it was the outgrowth of the French revolution, when chefs previously employed by aristocratic households opened their kitchens to anyone who could afford a meal. (The same revolution, he adds, introduced the metric system and the concept of civil marriage to the world.)

Bernier occasionally swims against the tide, arguing, for instance, that Thomas Jefferson did not father children by Sally Hemmings, a slave on his Monticello plantation. (The best evidence suggests otherwise.) But his wide-ranging view of a time when the affairs of one country could influence events thousands of miles away makes for constantly fascinating reading. --Gregory McNamee

From the Back Cover:

In the year 1800, almost everyone lived very much as their ancestors had, going back countless generations. In the countryside, illiterate peasants?the majority of the population?still scratched out a living from the soil, while in the cities, merchants hawked their wares in open-air market stalls and nobles led lives of opulent leisure. Yet, everywhere there were unmistakable signs that all of this would soon change forever. Spread by France?s seemingly invincible citizens? army, the seeds of republicanism had been planted throughout Europe. In the Americas, the United States had proved to the world the feasibility of a government of, by, and for the people, and Mexico was threatening to follow its lead. And while it still took up to four months for an official dispatch to travel from London to Calcutta, Europe?s leading nations, France and England, had established global empire-building strategies. In the year 1800, the world suddenly found itself enmeshed in a web of mercantilism, war, and political intrigue, out of which a new world?our world?was struggling to be born.

In this compelling narrative renown- ed historian Olivier Bernier provides us with a riveting chronicle of that time, so vastly different from our own yet so pregnant with meaning for us as we embark upon a new century. From Europe?s bloodstained landscape to the prosperous ports and homesteads of a nascent United States, from the Spanish dominions of Central and South America to the slave trading posts of Africa?s Gold Coast and the lavish interiors of China?s Forbidden City, Bernier takes us on a dizzying journey around the world, providing a finely textured portrait of civilization at the dawn of the modern era.

Bringing all of his talents as a historian and a first-rate storyteller to bear, Bernier takes us inside the courts and parliaments of the major powers to listen in on the political discourse of the day. He leads us into the boudoirs and ballrooms of the rich, the cramped homes of the middle class, and the hovels of the poor to provide an intimate glimpse of the private lives of the first modern men and women. And he explores the seminal works of such masters as Beethoven, Goethe, David, and Hokusai to shed new light on the revolutionary trends that were taking shape in the arts, architecture, science, and philosophy.

A spellbinding account of one of the most momentous chapters in the story of civilization, The World in 1800 is a singular achievement by a premier historian and an irresistible read for scholars and history buffs alike.

"Olivier Bernier?s richly detailed, engaging, and elegant book offers a splendid refresher course on a pivotal moment in world history?the dawn of the modern era."—Francine du Plessix Gray

"...for the first time ever, the world was becoming one, united by war and by the survival of that most ancient of evils, slavery. Already during the Seven Years? War, from 1756 to 1763, fighting had ranged across the continents and across the oceans; but it had been disorganized and relatively brief, a series of spasms rather than a new sense of connection. The wars of the French Revolution, from 1792 to 1815, changed all that. Now the leading nations?France and Great Britain particularly?had worldwide strategies. What happened in Rio, Cairo, Calcutta, or Cape Town mattered to the governments in Paris and London; and each movement of the adversaries caused consequences thousands of miles away."—From the Introduction

About this edition

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0471303712
• ISBN 13: 9780471303718
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 464