An engrossing volume on European civilization by Pulitzer Prize-winning historians Will and Ariel DurantThe Age of Napoleon, the eleventh and final volume of the Story of Civilization, surveys the amazing chain of events that wrenched Europe out of the Enlightenment and into the age of democracy. In this masterful work, listeners will encounter the French Revolution--from the storming of the Bastille to the guillotining of the king; the revolution's leaders Danton, Desmoulins, Robespierre, Saint-Just--all cut down by the reign of terror they inaugurated; Napoleon's meteoric rise--from provincial Corsican military student to emperor and commander of the largest army in history; Napoleon's fall--his army's destruction in the snows of Russia, his exile to Elba, his escape and reconquest of the throne, and his ultimate defeat at Waterloo by the combined forces of Europe; the birth of Romanticism and the dawning of a new age of active democracy and a rising middle class, laying the foundation for a new era.
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A sweeping portrait of an age, this book--the 11th and final volume in Will and Ariel Durant's Story of Civilization series--makes Napoleon its hero. The Durants, capable of switching from art to science to warfare with ease and skill, rank among the world's great popular historians. This adroitness requires some condensation: the description of Waterloo, for instance, takes up about three pages. If you want a detailed history of Napoleon's battle orders, look elsewhere, but if you want to understand the age and the man--in that order--The Age of Napoleon is a great place to begin.
Will Durant (1885-1981) was an award-winning American writer, historian, and philosopher. He and his wife were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1968 for Rousseau and Revolution, and he was a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Durant spent over forty years writing the critically acclaimed eleven-volume Story of Civilization, the later volumes with the help of his wife, Ariel. He sought to revitalize history by unifying and humanizing the great body of historical knowledge, which had become voluminous and fragmented into esoteric subcategories. He also strove to bring philosophy to the common man. Durant was a champion of human rights, social reform, and the brotherhood of man long before they became well-known issues.
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