The Europeans, Orlando Figes
The Europeans, Orlando Figes
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The Europeans
Three Lives and the Making of a Cosmopolitan Culture

Author: Orlando Figes

Narrator: James Langton

Unabridged: 21 hr 39 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/08/2019


Synopsis

From the “master of historical narrative” (Financial Times), a dazzling, richly detailed, panoramic work—the first to document the genesis of a continent-wide European cultureThe nineteenth century in Europe was the first age of cultural globalization—an epoch when mass communications and high-speed rail travel brought Europe together, overcoming national barriers and creating a truly pan-European canon of artistic, musical, and literary works. By 1900, people across the continent were reading the same books, looking at the same art, and attending the same opera performances.Acclaimed historian Orlando Figes moves from Parisian salons to German spa towns to Russian country houses, exploring the interplay of money and art that made this unification possible. At the book’s center is an intimate love triangle: the Russian writer Ivan Turgenev; the Spanish prima donna Pauline Viardot; and her husband Louis Viardot, a connoisseur and political activist. Their passionate, ambitious lives caught up an astonishing array of artists and princes, poets, composers, and impresarios—Delacroix, Chopin, the Schumanns, Hugo, Flaubert, Dickens, and Dostoyevsky, among them.As Figes observes, nearly all of civilization’s great advances have come when people, ideas, and artistic creations circulate freely between nations. Surprising, beautifully written, spanning a continent and a century, The Europeans offers the first international history of European culture—and a compelling argument for the benefits of cosmopolitanism.

About Orlando Figes

Orlando Figes is the author of many acclaimed books on Russian history. His books have been translated into over thirty languages. He is a professor of history at Birkbeck College, London University.

About James Langton

James Langton is an actor and narrator who has performed many voice-overs and narrated numerous audiobooks, including the international bestseller The Brotherhood of the Holy Shroud by Julia Navarro, Fire Storm by Andrew Lane, and An Old Betrayal by Charles Finch. He has won multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards for his work in narration. As a voice-over artist, he has worked with a host of industrial and commercial clients including Geico, Johnson&Johnson, and ask.com. He is also a professional musician who led the internationally renowned Pasadena Roof Orchestra from 1996 to 2002. Langton was born in York, England, and is now based in New York City.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jorge on April 21, 2021

Difícil reseñar una obra tan prolija y deslumbrante como lo es este texto de divulgación del historiador inglés Orlando Figes (1959). Me parece que una buena aproximación es decir que el autor nos expone los que a su juicio fueron los factores que contribuyeron a formar la cultura cosmopolita europe......more

Goodreads review by Álvaro on March 20, 2021

2,5 o así que redondeo a 3 para que luego no se me acuse de severo y tal. Es un libro correcto, pero no comparto las alabanzas que ha recibido. Empecé leyéndolo con fruición (las primeras 100 páginas del tirón), y he acabado arrastrándome por el último tercio con muchas ganas de dejarlo. He tenido much......more

Goodreads review by Eduardo on May 24, 2022

Orlando Figes lo ha bordado con este libro, en el que propone, a través de tres biografías cruzadas, una hipótesis sobre la construcción de la cultura europea (o de la propia noción de lo europeo) a lo largo del siglo XIX. El ensayo, a nivel interpretativo, contiene algunas cargas de profundidad que......more

Goodreads review by Nelson on April 02, 2023

A experiência de "The Europeans" (2019) de Orlando Figes funciona como uma grande viagem cultural através de toda a Europa — da Rússia a Portugal — ao longo de todo o século XIX. Figes escolheu para companheiros de viagem: o ícone literário Ivan Turgenev, a renomeada cantora de ópera Pauline Viardot......more

Goodreads review by Marks54 on February 28, 2020

A three way biography! Not only that, but a threesome (or can you call it a “thrupple”?). What can you do with a long three way biography? Quite a bit, it turns out. I realize the risks of trying to draw too much out of a particular, but this is a really good try, by an accomplished historian. The i......more


Quotes

“Figes zeros in on nineteenth-century Europe, a time of technological innovation and globalization that he believes helped the Continent coalesce around shared values, art and sensibilities…With the future of Brexit and the European Union still uncertain, the book, which makes the case that a common European culture once existed and thrived, is doubly relevant today.” New York Times Book Review

“Vividly written and meticulously detailed, this book will please lovers of the history of literature and music, at the very least.” Library Journal (starred review)

“Figes’s…deep grasp of the characters and of technology-driven societal upheaval make this cultural history of Europe in the nineteenth century fascinating, even indispensable.” Booklist (starred review)

“Magnificent. Beautifully written, immaculately researched, and thoroughly absorbing from start to finish. A tour de force that explains how Europe’s cultural life transformed during the course of the nineteenth century—and so much more.” Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads: A New History of the World

“[An] excellent, wide-ranging history of nineteenth-century Europe.” Publishers Weekly

“A powerful and essential addition to our understanding of European history and culture.” Kirkus Reviews


Awards

  • New York Times Pick