Rousseau and Revolution, Will Durant
Rousseau and Revolution, Will Durant
List: $29.95 | Sale: $20.97
Club: $14.97

Rousseau and Revolution
A History of Civilization in France, England, and Germany from 1756, and in the Remainder of Europe from 1715 to 1789

Author: Will Durant, Ariel Durant

Narrator: Stefan Rudnicki

Unabridged: 55 hr 48 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/15/2015

Synopsis

The Pulitzer Prize–winning volume on European civilization by acclaimed historians Will and Ariel DurantRousseau and Revolution, the tenth 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.

About Will Durant

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.

About Ariel Durant

Ariel Durant (1898–1981) was a Russian-born American researcher and writer and the coauthor of the eleven-volume Story of Civilization with her husband Will Durant. Ariel and Will Durant were jointly awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1968 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977. Ariel was named the 1977 Woman of the Year by the City of Los Angeles.

About Stefan Rudnicki

Stefan Rudnicki is a Grammy-winning audiobook producer and a multiaward-winning narrator, named one of AudioFile’s Golden Voices.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Ahmad on February 11, 2021

Rousseau and Revolution (The Story Of Civilization #10), Will Durant This volume centers on Jean-Jacques Rousseau and his times. It received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1968. Prelude: Rousseau Wanderer: 1712–56; The Seven Years' War: 1756–63. France Before the Deluge: 1757–74: The Li......more

Goodreads review by Roy on August 30, 2018

Finally we come to the Pulitzer Prize-winning volume of the series. Even compared to the other excellent volumes of The Story, this one is notable for the range of brilliant actors who march across its stage. In art we have Canaletto, Tiepolo, Houdon, Goya; in music Scarlatti, Gluck, Haydn, Mozart (......more

Goodreads review by Julio on December 20, 2023

What a way to end a century: Washington crossing the Delaware. Louis XVI, and Marie Antoinette. Insane George III on the throne of England. Mozart, Goethe, Gibbon, Johnson. Peter the Great. Voltaire. Clive of India. Bonaparte. And, Will and Ariel Durant manage to make all of it seem trivial! Revoke......more

Goodreads review by Jamie on May 02, 2023

Rousseau and Revolution is the penultimate volume of the Story of Civilization series. By the time I finished I had highlighted almost three hundred passages, and when copied into a draft review they totaled 70,000 characters, far above Goodreads’s maximum of 15,000. As such I had to decide what to......more

Goodreads review by Josh on December 26, 2017

"Always scribble, scribble, scribble, eh Mr Durant?" Another one of these fat books - the last one, ostensibly, before the couple came out of retirement for one final, eleventh gig (wasn't that a movie plot?) Overall I love the Durants: their calm view of history, seeing the extremes of each age in......more

Quotes

“Their many vignettes of men and cities are full of anecdote and aphorism. They make each period alive and pulsating…After all these years, their enthusiasm is unabated. It can be felt on every page of their final volume.” New York Times

“The military exploits, the elegance and corruption of court life, the diversity of cultural, economic, and social events, the prejudices and mores of the entire European scene—surely it is a measure of the Durants’ comprehensive mastery that so vast a panorama has been handled with so many splendidly interwoven episodes, judicious portraits, and contemporary ramifications.” Kirkus Reviews

Awards

  • Pulitzer Prize
Add to Cart
Add to Wish List