Jacques Barzun - From Dawn to Decadence

Pros: A synthesis of a lifetime of study and analysis. Brilliant man, brilliant book.

Cons: Very long.

The Bottom Line: Definite read for someone wanting to understand the ebb and flow of time and culture since 1500. Readable over time, not necessarily in one sitting.

Review: The title(s) alone, From Dawn to Decadence: 1500 to the present, 500 Years of Western Cultural Life, suggest an intimidating and massively complex analysis of western civilization, and Jacques Barzun, a 20th century father of cultural history, ...

Pros: Fascinating, little known, characters and cultural information

Cons: Long, long, long. You have to be an obsessive reader for this book.

The Bottom Line: I would recommend the book for people who are looking for an interesting summation of our Western cultural life and not for history in the traditional sense.

Review: Many readers seem to mistake Jacques Barzun's book as history. Well, it is and it isn't. Note the book's title, "From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life."

Barzun throws a lot of things into the cultural life cauldron...