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The Birth of the Modern: World Society 1815-30
From the prizewinning author of Modern Times comes an extraordinary chronicle of the period that laid the foundations of the modern world.
1095 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
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About the author
Paul Johnson
134 books832 followersPaul Johnson works as a historian, journalist and author. He was educated at Stonyhurst School in Clitheroe, Lancashire and Magdalen College, Oxford, and first came to prominence in the 1950s as a journalist writing for, and later editing, the New Statesman magazine. He has also written for leading newspapers and magazines in Britain, the US and Europe.
Paul Johnson has published over 40 books including A History of Christianity (1979), A History of the English People (1987), Intellectuals (1988), The Birth of the Modern: World Society, 1815—1830 (1991), Modern Times: A History of the World from the 1920s to the Year 2000 (1999), A History of the American People (2000), A History of the Jews (2001) and Art: A New History (2003) as well as biographies of Elizabeth I (1974), Napoleon (2002), George Washington (2005) and Pope John Paul II (1982).
Paul Johnson has published over 40 books including A History of Christianity (1979), A History of the English People (1987), Intellectuals (1988), The Birth of the Modern: World Society, 1815—1830 (1991), Modern Times: A History of the World from the 1920s to the Year 2000 (1999), A History of the American People (2000), A History of the Jews (2001) and Art: A New History (2003) as well as biographies of Elizabeth I (1974), Napoleon (2002), George Washington (2005) and Pope John Paul II (1982).
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October 22, 2024Very erudite work, almost encyclopedic. It's a nice read, but it has its flaws. It's not always well structured, there often are digressions and elaborations. Johnson's focus is very English: almost all the examples come from England; so for instance, there is almost nothing on Goethe or Heine. The 1815-1830 time frame sometimes is too tight and the author regularly goes beyond it. Rating 2.5 stars.
September 5, 2007
A brilliant book by Paul Johnson, best known for "Modern Times". In this book Johnson looks at the world in the time period 1815-1830, from the end of the Napoleonic Wars to the start of the railroad age. He covers a wide number of subjects, political, social, financial, artistic and others. It's an easy book to read, since every chapter stands on it's own. It's full of "gee, I didn't know that!" moments, which is what makes history fun for me. Well worth reading.
April 29, 2008
I have been an admirer of Paul Johnson since reading A History of the American People, and always buy his books as I come across them in book sales. That led me to Modern Times, probably the most interesting history book I have ever read, and then to this, The Birth of the Modern, World Society 1815-1830.
Mr. Johnson is still as readable as ever, and the scholarship in this book is extraordinary. But, I was a little concerned as to what one could find to fill 1,000 pages relating to this relatively arbitrary fifteen year period, and in fact, it is slow going in many places. Yes, there is lots of interesting stuff here, but my advice would be to skip the parts that don't interest you. There's plenty of information about all parts of the world, and every area of human endeavor. Treat it as a sampler, and enjoy; otherwise, it's a slog.
Mr. Johnson is still as readable as ever, and the scholarship in this book is extraordinary. But, I was a little concerned as to what one could find to fill 1,000 pages relating to this relatively arbitrary fifteen year period, and in fact, it is slow going in many places. Yes, there is lots of interesting stuff here, but my advice would be to skip the parts that don't interest you. There's plenty of information about all parts of the world, and every area of human endeavor. Treat it as a sampler, and enjoy; otherwise, it's a slog.
May 22, 2013
Despite his conservatism and strained attempts to attack the contemporary Left by association to discreditable persons and movements in the early nineteenth century, Johnson is an excellent writer and this is an entertaining, sometimes enlightening, cultural history of the period. I particularly liked his excursus on how much people walked back in the day.
September 2, 2014
I find it hard to review three star books; there’s less to rave about or rant about.
Paul Johnson certainly has studied widely and describes changes across politics, transportation, science, art, and literature. But his conservative slant is so overwhelming that I had my feet dug in the whole way. And a thousand pages is a long way. The book is very anglocentric in its content and terminology, although it discusses the emerging American democracy fairly thoroughly. He is rabidly (hysterically) anti-Bolivar, and the very limited discussion of Asia is in relation to European interests. I found him to devote long sections to overly detailed descriptions of minor issues, shorting breadth. And his reliance on Mrs. Arbuthnot for such extensive quotes and perspectives on English politics is limiting. If you don’t already know a lot about the reform period in England and the terminology used for Parliament and elections, you will struggle.
One can be somewhat conservative and still write excellent, reasonably balanced history; see What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 by Pulitzer winner Daniel Walker Howe (one time when a Pulitzer was deserved). There is also a fairly good, if focused, background description of European political history from the Congress of Vienna to 1850 in Figes’s Crimea.
Paul Johnson certainly has studied widely and describes changes across politics, transportation, science, art, and literature. But his conservative slant is so overwhelming that I had my feet dug in the whole way. And a thousand pages is a long way. The book is very anglocentric in its content and terminology, although it discusses the emerging American democracy fairly thoroughly. He is rabidly (hysterically) anti-Bolivar, and the very limited discussion of Asia is in relation to European interests. I found him to devote long sections to overly detailed descriptions of minor issues, shorting breadth. And his reliance on Mrs. Arbuthnot for such extensive quotes and perspectives on English politics is limiting. If you don’t already know a lot about the reform period in England and the terminology used for Parliament and elections, you will struggle.
One can be somewhat conservative and still write excellent, reasonably balanced history; see What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 by Pulitzer winner Daniel Walker Howe (one time when a Pulitzer was deserved). There is also a fairly good, if focused, background description of European political history from the Congress of Vienna to 1850 in Figes’s Crimea.
April 9, 2009
An outstanding piece of work - covers most of world history from 1815 - 1830 - a real tour de force. Goes into a wide range of detail from politics, industrial development & science, arts, music etc. Cannot recommend it highly enough. It's around 1,000 pages - I read it in two massive lumps about half each with around ten years gap between them - just finished it last year and got through the remaining half in about two days.
January 3, 2025
Good. I agree with him that this period is where a lot of the ideas that flourished and formed modernity began here. Especially in the sexual morals of Shelley and the Romantics.
November 2, 2018
In many ways this is a daunting book - ambitious in its vision and complex. Johnson's basic premise is that the period between 1815 and 1830 - fifteen short years, was ground breaking in transforming how humans around the world viewed themselves. He comments -“The age abounded in great personalities; warriors, statesmen and tyrants; outstanding inventors and technologists; and writers, artists and musicians of the highest genius, women as well as men. I have brought them to the fore but I have also sought to paint in background, showing how ordinary men and women-—and children—lived, suffered and died, ate and drank, worked, played and traveled." I am not sure why I did not read this when it first came out - I like Johnson as both a historian and social thinker - but I missed it.
The book travels through a series of chapters on all parts of life - from politics, to art, to technologies, to social practices. But in the end his thesis becomes credible - in part because he actually does a good job of explaining how seemingly small events either before or after his chosen time period - affected the changes he describes in the history.
The last chapter discusses a small change in life with the creation of "Lucifer sticks" - matches using phosphorous which meant that all sorts of fires were easier to light. It is a fitting conclusion - a small invention with big implications.
At the end of the book, I thought a lot about whether one could choose a fifteen year period different from his choice and make the same kinds of massive generalizations. I think that is worth trying to work through. For example, could you take the birth of Netscape (1995) through perhaps 2010? Think of all the trends in the same range that Johnson describes here. This book is long but worth the time.
The book travels through a series of chapters on all parts of life - from politics, to art, to technologies, to social practices. But in the end his thesis becomes credible - in part because he actually does a good job of explaining how seemingly small events either before or after his chosen time period - affected the changes he describes in the history.
The last chapter discusses a small change in life with the creation of "Lucifer sticks" - matches using phosphorous which meant that all sorts of fires were easier to light. It is a fitting conclusion - a small invention with big implications.
At the end of the book, I thought a lot about whether one could choose a fifteen year period different from his choice and make the same kinds of massive generalizations. I think that is worth trying to work through. For example, could you take the birth of Netscape (1995) through perhaps 2010? Think of all the trends in the same range that Johnson describes here. This book is long but worth the time.
February 2, 2015
A rich and exhaustively researched book that charts the major changes in a critical period, 1815-1830, that forms the base for much of our present culture. Paul Johnson has a truly comprehensive mind and the book is well worth the effort it takes to read it, even at exactly 1000 pages.
Having said that, I was disappointed by the number of typos and other text errors-something like three dozen. This is the level of production errors that I would expect from a self-published book that had not had the benefit of professional editing. Yet this book was published by Harper Collins, a major house. Anything that is a foreign language reference seems particularly vulnerable. I found it downright sloppy.
I realize that the author usually gets galleys to scan, and it does seem that Johnson might have caught at least some of this himself, so it's hard to explain.
I'm giving the book four stars on the basis of content and the importance of its ideas. I don't like to fault the author for proofreading problems, but this book suffers more than any I've seen in a long time.
Having said that, I was disappointed by the number of typos and other text errors-something like three dozen. This is the level of production errors that I would expect from a self-published book that had not had the benefit of professional editing. Yet this book was published by Harper Collins, a major house. Anything that is a foreign language reference seems particularly vulnerable. I found it downright sloppy.
I realize that the author usually gets galleys to scan, and it does seem that Johnson might have caught at least some of this himself, so it's hard to explain.
I'm giving the book four stars on the basis of content and the importance of its ideas. I don't like to fault the author for proofreading problems, but this book suffers more than any I've seen in a long time.
March 15, 2009
I keep going back and rereading parts of this book because it is so informative and so well written. It is a remarkably comprehensive view of world history in the fifteen years from 1815-1830. Think of the authors, scientists, statesmen, generals, artists, reformers, and composers you know from the era and imagine a narrative that weaves them together with a sharp understanding of how they each changed the world. Johnson ties it all together without being boring for longer than a page. And for a book this big, that's a great victory.
May 30, 2013
This is very likely the finest work of history I've ever read, eclipsing even The Making of the Atomic Bomb and Enlightenment Contested. An absolute masterpiece.
September 21, 2023
This wasn't a real succes to me. See my review in my Sense-of-History-account: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
May 11, 2018
The reviews of this book that are available on the Goodreads site are perfectly adequate if you want to know what the book is about and what are some of its strengths and flaws. I especially liked the review that pointed out the many typos and to that review I added a report of a serious factual discrepancy. Someone was asleep at the wheel.
I liked reading the book very much because it gave me so many ideas for further reading. I especially enjoyed the sections on technological advances. It was well written and easy to read. Of course in no way did it approach the elegance and beauty of Rebecca West's great work on Yugoslavia. But easy to read is also something to appreciate.
Now let's see how I follow up on the leads I've been given.
I liked reading the book very much because it gave me so many ideas for further reading. I especially enjoyed the sections on technological advances. It was well written and easy to read. Of course in no way did it approach the elegance and beauty of Rebecca West's great work on Yugoslavia. But easy to read is also something to appreciate.
Now let's see how I follow up on the leads I've been given.
May 31, 2015
Review title: The end of the world as they knew it
Johnson takes a small slice of time and spends 1,000 pages documenting the political, scientific, technical, financial, cultural, and artistic people, places, and events. There are two keys to making this narrative history approach work:
1. Pick the right slice of time. Johnson makes a case for 1815 - 1830 being the transition period from the revolutionary 18th Century to the modern world that laid the foundation of our 21st century world. He starts with in depth chapters on final events in the world-wide war between France and England--the ending and outcome of the War of 1812 in the US, and the stuttering denouement of Napoleon on the Continent, and the world that emerged from the Congress of Vienna that settled the peace terms. With the peace came an environment in which innovation in ideas and technology could and did take place. While slavery still darkened the American shores, France's revolving governments were still not settled, and the financial impact of the pending Industrial Revolution on the working class was still uncertain, the world seemed poised for progress, which was in fact a philosophical idea with roots in this era. Johnson documents the cultural and economic conditions that supported this remarkable period of productivity.
2. Focus on the right things. Here the story is a split. The strongest part of Johnson's account is when he documents the intersections between the artists, scientists, writers, and musicians who enlivened the era and have enriched the human spirit since. The intersections are especially vital because so many of these men and women knew each other and could still speak the same language. In fact Johnson makes the point that this generation of artists and still mostly self-taught and amateur scientists and technologists was the last that could fruitfully exchange ideas in letters, drawings, and even poetry. Beethoven, Byron, Faraday, and Fulton revolutionized music, art, science, and transportation and the narrative flows fast in these sections.
But when Johnson turns to the political history of the time he seems to major on the minors, tossing about names and events that aren't up to the level of the cultural history he is documenting. And while he does give small space to other countries, his "world" is dominated by England, France, and the United States. While Johnson is writing from the "modern" world of 1991 his focus reflects a focus on this narrow slice of the Modern that reflects back to the worst of the Modern and not the best. Compare this to the broader view from "The Transformation of the world: A Global history of the Nineteenth Century" written in 2014, which gives Asia, Africa, India, and the Middle East full coverage.
In balance, despite this criticism, Birth comes out positive. The story of society in this 15 year period is so dynamic Johnson's point is proven, and the Modern is born.
Johnson takes a small slice of time and spends 1,000 pages documenting the political, scientific, technical, financial, cultural, and artistic people, places, and events. There are two keys to making this narrative history approach work:
1. Pick the right slice of time. Johnson makes a case for 1815 - 1830 being the transition period from the revolutionary 18th Century to the modern world that laid the foundation of our 21st century world. He starts with in depth chapters on final events in the world-wide war between France and England--the ending and outcome of the War of 1812 in the US, and the stuttering denouement of Napoleon on the Continent, and the world that emerged from the Congress of Vienna that settled the peace terms. With the peace came an environment in which innovation in ideas and technology could and did take place. While slavery still darkened the American shores, France's revolving governments were still not settled, and the financial impact of the pending Industrial Revolution on the working class was still uncertain, the world seemed poised for progress, which was in fact a philosophical idea with roots in this era. Johnson documents the cultural and economic conditions that supported this remarkable period of productivity.
2. Focus on the right things. Here the story is a split. The strongest part of Johnson's account is when he documents the intersections between the artists, scientists, writers, and musicians who enlivened the era and have enriched the human spirit since. The intersections are especially vital because so many of these men and women knew each other and could still speak the same language. In fact Johnson makes the point that this generation of artists and still mostly self-taught and amateur scientists and technologists was the last that could fruitfully exchange ideas in letters, drawings, and even poetry. Beethoven, Byron, Faraday, and Fulton revolutionized music, art, science, and transportation and the narrative flows fast in these sections.
But when Johnson turns to the political history of the time he seems to major on the minors, tossing about names and events that aren't up to the level of the cultural history he is documenting. And while he does give small space to other countries, his "world" is dominated by England, France, and the United States. While Johnson is writing from the "modern" world of 1991 his focus reflects a focus on this narrow slice of the Modern that reflects back to the worst of the Modern and not the best. Compare this to the broader view from "The Transformation of the world: A Global history of the Nineteenth Century" written in 2014, which gives Asia, Africa, India, and the Middle East full coverage.
In balance, despite this criticism, Birth comes out positive. The story of society in this 15 year period is so dynamic Johnson's point is proven, and the Modern is born.
November 20, 2014
I wonder if my great, great, great, great, great grandpa realized that he was living through the birth of the modern era during the early 19th century. Perhaps doing backbreaking labor six days a week and dying of syphilis in some back alley in Hamburg at the age of 36 didn’t make him appreciate his good fortune.
Grandpa’s life not withstanding the early 19th century was dynamic if look at in a historical context. With Napoleon safely fuming in St. Helena, the British were safe to dip a waterwheel in local streams and start the industrial revolution. Leisure and wealth breeds the arts – Mary Shelly wrote Frankenstein and Lord Byron fornicated about Europe while still feeling deeply melancholy about it.
The British dominated the era, but things were happening elsewhere. The Erie Canal was bringing grain from Illinois to New York. This was made into whiskey which was given to Indians, who in turn became easier for General Jackson to shoot, thereby freeing up land for civilized people.
The first arch light was developed. Good thing too, as the first locomotive was being developed. When one is rocketing along at 15 miles and hour you have to see what is ahead of you – by golly it was like Times Square, a circus and a K-Mart blue light special all together.
Paul Johnson is a somewhat quirky writer (this does not discount that he is also a fine scholar). He is not afraid of moseying down some tangent if it suits his fancy, so do not look to book for a chronological history. If you want a broad picture of the world environment at during a interesting period of history, this book is a great place to start.
Grandpa’s life not withstanding the early 19th century was dynamic if look at in a historical context. With Napoleon safely fuming in St. Helena, the British were safe to dip a waterwheel in local streams and start the industrial revolution. Leisure and wealth breeds the arts – Mary Shelly wrote Frankenstein and Lord Byron fornicated about Europe while still feeling deeply melancholy about it.
The British dominated the era, but things were happening elsewhere. The Erie Canal was bringing grain from Illinois to New York. This was made into whiskey which was given to Indians, who in turn became easier for General Jackson to shoot, thereby freeing up land for civilized people.
The first arch light was developed. Good thing too, as the first locomotive was being developed. When one is rocketing along at 15 miles and hour you have to see what is ahead of you – by golly it was like Times Square, a circus and a K-Mart blue light special all together.
Paul Johnson is a somewhat quirky writer (this does not discount that he is also a fine scholar). He is not afraid of moseying down some tangent if it suits his fancy, so do not look to book for a chronological history. If you want a broad picture of the world environment at during a interesting period of history, this book is a great place to start.
April 22, 2022
British historian Paul Johnson writes huge doorstop volumes covering vast topics; in addition to his best-known work, Modern Times, a history of the twentieth century, he has produced histories of Christianity, Judaism and the American people, all of them close to a thousand pages and providing a physical as well as intellectual workout. Your biceps will benefit as well as your brain.
This one is a survey of the early decades of the nineteenth century, when a world recovering from the Napoleonic wars saw the industrial revolution transform the landscape and overturn a centuries-old political and cultural status quo.
Johnson provides not only the usual account of political developments but also plenty of social history, with lots of fascinating and sometimes gossipy detail on the lives of people known and unknown. The hundreds of topics covered include the rise of Andrew Jackson, the first populist U.S. president, how the Congress of Vienna shaped a new Europe after Napoleon's defeat, how new technologies expanded horizons and facilitated Europe's imperial adventures in Africa and Asia, how the romantic poets (the beatniks of their day) shook up the culture, why Britain escaped serious revolutionary disturbances while revolution was sweeping the continent, and many, many more.
It is all amply documented (71 pages of notes) and written in Johnson's fluid, accessible style. You won't get through it in a week, but like all Johnson's massive tomes, it rewards patient reading with multiple insights into how the world got to be the way it is.
This one is a survey of the early decades of the nineteenth century, when a world recovering from the Napoleonic wars saw the industrial revolution transform the landscape and overturn a centuries-old political and cultural status quo.
Johnson provides not only the usual account of political developments but also plenty of social history, with lots of fascinating and sometimes gossipy detail on the lives of people known and unknown. The hundreds of topics covered include the rise of Andrew Jackson, the first populist U.S. president, how the Congress of Vienna shaped a new Europe after Napoleon's defeat, how new technologies expanded horizons and facilitated Europe's imperial adventures in Africa and Asia, how the romantic poets (the beatniks of their day) shook up the culture, why Britain escaped serious revolutionary disturbances while revolution was sweeping the continent, and many, many more.
It is all amply documented (71 pages of notes) and written in Johnson's fluid, accessible style. You won't get through it in a week, but like all Johnson's massive tomes, it rewards patient reading with multiple insights into how the world got to be the way it is.
March 15, 2020
For various reasons, I read this book in stops and starts over the course of almost two years. I'm glad I finished it, because although dated (1991), the book's thesis that 1815-1830 were crucial years for the development the modern world seems to hold up.
Johnson is highly readable, partly because he focuses on entertaining anecdotes more than overarching statements. That is not to say he is an irresponsible historian, but this is clearly a popular, rather than academic, work and is strangely laden with typos and a few factoids that caused head-scratching.
I prefer this to Johnson's better-known book Modern Times, which tries to do too much. This book is much more focused and entertaining.
Johnson is highly readable, partly because he focuses on entertaining anecdotes more than overarching statements. That is not to say he is an irresponsible historian, but this is clearly a popular, rather than academic, work and is strangely laden with typos and a few factoids that caused head-scratching.
I prefer this to Johnson's better-known book Modern Times, which tries to do too much. This book is much more focused and entertaining.
April 23, 2016
This is a history written by a journalist rather than an academic historian, and sadly is not a reliable source of information. It is well written, and there are many interesting vignettes, but there are also numerous errors that are readily evident, even to non-specialists. This leads one to suspect the quality of judgement exercised in the analysis of events. The New York Times review printed at the time of the book's first publishing is revealing and just.
July 17, 2009
Reading this book made me really understand how everything in history is connected in just one big continuing story. It was like the scales fell from my eyes. I'm kind of embarrassed it took me so long, but this book changed the way I think of history - in a good way, I mean. I wonder if I would like it as much now as when I read it so long ago?
Currently reading
May 30, 2023Jean Baptiste Bernadotte spoke only a few words swedish. He is the Napoleon of Sweden. He founded the SÄPO, and enforced criticism against conspiracy theories that previously motivated the french revolution - opposition c'est conspiration. This is evidence of the link between the french revolution and the swedish modern spirit. The religious revival movement of C.O. Rosenius is furthermore informed by collectivist romantic ideals as a reaction against the enlightenment. It probably bears resemblence to liberalism in some sense - it is not at all conservative in the sense conserving traditional hierarchy with christ as the cornerstone, the embodied reality, but rather putting forth an idealism of equality and enthusiastic experience, belief in semi-introspective poetry to create enthusiasm
Napoleon is the caesar of modernity, it seems to me like Russia today is imitating bonapartism. Maybe Adolf Hitler was as well, and Moussolini. Napoleon comitted atrocities in spain in 1808 as depicted by De Goya, but is not performing the romantic function of the scapegoat like more present rulers do. To understand the bible and its message, that to a large extent is intertwined with roman politics and jewish organized religion, it is likewise necessary to understand the present political landscape in order to appreciate the meaning of the evangelion of christ as opposed to that of Caesar
To be continued
Hegel apparantly described Napoleon as the incarnation of the world spirit. When listening to the biography of Napoleon it of course becomes obvious that he is a human that bleeds, becomes nervous and shows lack of authority in his rethoric and ultimately becomes disliked, exiled and dies. He is therefore not a god, a mere mortal, but still Hegel identified him with this central importance. Violence and prestige are the spiritual forces that move history, and Napoleon was the incarnation of prestige and violence at the turn of the 18th century. With him the catholic churces were reopened in France, truce was established between the secular government and the church.
Rosenius is imitating the german pietism of Arndt and the likes, perhaps in the spirit of romanticism that permeates europe at this time. The people of sweden is susceptible because of the desillusion of the Scandinavian spirit that took place with the dethroning of the swedish King and his replacement with Napoleons double Bernadotte
Napoleon is the caesar of modernity, it seems to me like Russia today is imitating bonapartism. Maybe Adolf Hitler was as well, and Moussolini. Napoleon comitted atrocities in spain in 1808 as depicted by De Goya, but is not performing the romantic function of the scapegoat like more present rulers do. To understand the bible and its message, that to a large extent is intertwined with roman politics and jewish organized religion, it is likewise necessary to understand the present political landscape in order to appreciate the meaning of the evangelion of christ as opposed to that of Caesar
To be continued
Hegel apparantly described Napoleon as the incarnation of the world spirit. When listening to the biography of Napoleon it of course becomes obvious that he is a human that bleeds, becomes nervous and shows lack of authority in his rethoric and ultimately becomes disliked, exiled and dies. He is therefore not a god, a mere mortal, but still Hegel identified him with this central importance. Violence and prestige are the spiritual forces that move history, and Napoleon was the incarnation of prestige and violence at the turn of the 18th century. With him the catholic churces were reopened in France, truce was established between the secular government and the church.
Rosenius is imitating the german pietism of Arndt and the likes, perhaps in the spirit of romanticism that permeates europe at this time. The people of sweden is susceptible because of the desillusion of the Scandinavian spirit that took place with the dethroning of the swedish King and his replacement with Napoleons double Bernadotte
July 31, 2017
Epic, magisterial, even overwhelming. Difficult for me to imagine that one intellect could so beautifully filter so much information through a well-told story. I've read two other of Johnson's histories (one on Christianity and one on America) and admired them both, particularly for their fresh insights into familiar terrain. But the sheer scope and volume of this book is difficult to comprehend.
There are times when it bogs down in too much detail--I remember skimming past the developments in divorce custom and law. But there are also moments of revelation--he gives one of the best discussions I've ever read of Immanuel Kant.
His great skill is tying together diverse developments--in politics, music, literature, technology, philosophy, printing, etc. and coherently drawing out their themes and influences. Great figures stride across these pages--Jackson, Wellington, Chateaubriand, Wordsworth, etc.--but also ordinary folks revealed in their letters and diaries.
Quite simply, the book amazes me.
There are times when it bogs down in too much detail--I remember skimming past the developments in divorce custom and law. But there are also moments of revelation--he gives one of the best discussions I've ever read of Immanuel Kant.
His great skill is tying together diverse developments--in politics, music, literature, technology, philosophy, printing, etc. and coherently drawing out their themes and influences. Great figures stride across these pages--Jackson, Wellington, Chateaubriand, Wordsworth, etc.--but also ordinary folks revealed in their letters and diaries.
Quite simply, the book amazes me.
December 16, 2023
This is a very amusing book, that is full of information, but I don't think it actually defends its thesis terribly well. I think you could pick just about any 15 year period in the last 250 years and say that it is the birth of the modern world just as easily as 1815-1830.
The author is extremely British-centric, with some amount of focus on the United States and France, and not very much elsewhere. This is probably a good thing, since the author is, in a very British conservative way, quite happy to defend "liberal" imperialism as good for the colonized. Those views are also, I think, not terribly well defended, but I admit that I don't think that they possibly can be.
If you can get past that, which admittedly is a pretty big if, there's a lot of amusing, well-written information about primarily British life in those years.
The author is extremely British-centric, with some amount of focus on the United States and France, and not very much elsewhere. This is probably a good thing, since the author is, in a very British conservative way, quite happy to defend "liberal" imperialism as good for the colonized. Those views are also, I think, not terribly well defended, but I admit that I don't think that they possibly can be.
If you can get past that, which admittedly is a pretty big if, there's a lot of amusing, well-written information about primarily British life in those years.
March 22, 2025
This is an impressive and engaging histor. Johnson expertly details the rise of modern society through advances in science, industry, and culture. He brings key figures like Beethoven and Stephenson to life.
For example, his account of British Foreign Secretary Lord Castlereagh is priceless:Castlereagh arrives at the Congress of Vienna in 1815 dressed flamboyantly under his cloak: a blue winter coat, red breeches, jockey boots, and a gold-banded fur cap. This colorful detail illustrates Johnson’s knack for humanizing the era’s power players, showing how even diplomacy had a theatrical flair.
For example, his account of British Foreign Secretary Lord Castlereagh is priceless:Castlereagh arrives at the Congress of Vienna in 1815 dressed flamboyantly under his cloak: a blue winter coat, red breeches, jockey boots, and a gold-banded fur cap. This colorful detail illustrates Johnson’s knack for humanizing the era’s power players, showing how even diplomacy had a theatrical flair.
June 3, 2025
One thousand pages of pure horse manure, dedicated to the glories of child labor in Britain, slavery in Brazil and the Royal Navy in action from Chile to China. Johnson merits two-stars for a few contributions to social history; linking the ubiquity of the piano in European middle-class homes to the popularity of Franz Listz, for instance, and the Paris opera to the French Revolution of 1830. After that, all is dross. Read it for a blind Tory view of the early nineteenth-century world and its discontents.
June 13, 2019
What a fascinating and frustrating book! Mr. Johnson's theory is that the modern world was created in the years between 1815 and 1830 and he takes a 1000 pages to try and prove his thesis. It is a book packed with facts and story both big and small that he uses to make his point. At times fascinating and others overwhelming. I had to take a couple of breaks from reading it or I would have drown in all the detail. But overall, I liked it a lot and am a better person for reading it.
April 4, 2023
It’s like reading an almanac of that era. A long back – the paperback edition is 1000 pages – but you can open it anywhere and find something fascinating to read. Anecdote follows anecdote, enticing you to keep on reading. You may disagree with Johnson’s viewpoint (God really is an Englishman) but his engaging style makes the pages fly.
November 11, 2024
Extraordinary work, but colossal in size. It took me near 2 years to finish it, one chapter at a time, but each chapter is an impeccably researched topic worthy to be a book unto itself. It offers a complete education artistically, politically, musically, scientifically of the Modern Era's dawn in the Western Hemisphere.
October 5, 2022
My favorite of all of Johnson's books. A triumphant rampage through some of the most momentous and optimistic years in Western history. Johnson is in his element with anecdotes aplenty and bold association of seemingly disparate movements in art, sciences, politics, society, and religion.
July 16, 2024
Not that good of a read if you're not interested in history. The author tends to paint in black and white, without really giving a reason for the drastic depiction. Chronology ain't that pleasing, lots of unnecessary details
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