Rating: 
Summary: Peerless - Western Culture Through 500 Years
Review: Monsieur Barzun takes us from the Protestant Revolution through the end of the 20th century. He takes themes and ideas and illustrates how they affected the artists and writers; among them are "emancipation," "analysis," "primitivism," and so on. He shows how the Protestant Revolution broke up the unity of the West into localized bands of government that fought among themselves until the monarchs, such as Louis XIV, suppressed local lords and made them loyal to the central governmemt; a general restoration of order followed. He gets into little unknown details about movers and shakers in the arts that have been forgotten or unnoticed in their time. He shows how the arts developed fresh ideas right up until the beginning of the 20th century. After that, everyone slipped into absurdity, ridicule and destruction. At that time, the paths suggested by the Romantics of the previous century had been exhausted - everything had already been done. He show that the things we take for granted as far as technology (or techne as Barzun prefers) were all invented by the end of the 19th century. The twentieth century has seen almost nothing new since (the only thing that comes to my mind is the semiconductor). We are only expanding our "analysis" of what was made before. This is indeed a peerless work. It is one of those rare books beyond criticism except to those rare persons with decades of knowledge and reflection on the subject. Barzun wrote this book in his 90's as an elder historian waving his hand over the last 500 years, pronouncing his verdict. He does not hesitate to pass judgement. He is very harsh to our age which he calls "Demotic Times." This book might require a prerequisite of an introductory college history class spanning the last 500 years. Given this, it is a delightful read. This is a must for the serious history buff as myself. Congratulations Monsieur Barzun for a job well done.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as he thinks he is
Review: Mr. Barzun, has on page 739 attempted to define novels as opposed to tales. He is neither an editor, nor as near as I can determine, a writer of novels. Most of his information about "detective tales" seems to be based on books written in the 1920s. Do not mistake anything he says as being helpful in the writing of a modern novel. Novels, like clothing, come and go in fashion as to their form and content. You may write what he calls a "tale", i.e., the relating of adventures that take for granted motives and settings, but if you pursue that course, you will look long and hard for someone to buy it. The modern reader is interested in motivations, and wants your characters to explain themselves to him/her. Actions and dialog without the subtext is boring, and does nothing to illuminate the human condition for the reader.
Rating: 
Summary: History by a Frenchman
Review: Can you believe it? The author rates the French Revolution well ahead of the American Revolution in importance!!
Rating:
Summary: dull tome
Review: The author, an esteemed scholar, provides a history of everyone you never heard of. Unfortunately, he fails to bring these obscure characters to life, or to demonstrate why the general reader should care about them.
Rating:
Summary: Neither Here nor There
Review: First, an admission: I gave up after page 622--or was it 627? A peek ahead at the chapter on cubist painters was all it took to firm my resolve. If your idea of history amounts to little more than literary and art criticism, this cinder block of a book is for you. If you enjoy flaccid, desultory prose of the Old Testament variety, count yourself doubly blessed, for Barzun has seen fit to couch his random observations in prose so turgid its formula should be sold to Ciba-Geigy as the world's most effective cure for insomnia. Really. Barzun spends an inordinate amount of time--praising--brace yourself for this one--French cultural achievements. There is no discernible relationship between the various sections of the book; the work suffers mightily from the lack of a central argument, resulting in an inertia that is difficult for all but the most masochistic of readers to overcome. When I finally put this monster down yesterday for good, a wave of relief washed over me, cleansing me of bad-student guilt and allowing the eager anticipation of other works to take its place. The first fifty pages of "Guns, Germs and Steel" have been much more rewarding.
Rating:
Summary: A brilliant primer
Review: I have just put down this 800-page survey of the Western civilisation, and I must agree with one of the previous one-star reviewers that it indeed was a struggle to read. However, it was a rewarding struggle, for after the patient effort I felt like a whole world had opened up to me little by little. Without going into details of what was and was not covered by Barzun (and it was wonderfully refreshing not to see another tedious rant about World War II occupying the pages), I can only account for the new impulse I gained: it inspired me to learn more of the many forgotten gems of Western culture that the author was apt to lift from obscurity with great and sincere passion. I may not agree with many of his stances, but what some of the reviewers have called pomposity and patronising dismissal I would rather regard as unwavering confidence of an incredibly learned mind. Those of you who shudder and lose heart seeing unusual words and a page cound above 150 are children of the decadence that Barzun so eloquently describes--ridden by impatience, desire for cheap and fast thrills, and unwillingness to think and appreciate. I am one, too, but trying to recover. By the way, he does not judge decadence; it is for him a stage in a succession leading to a revival of forgotten treasures of mind. Sooner or later it has to happen.
Rating:
Summary: Everyone Should Read It, But who is?
Review: One of the shortest trips in history on the New York Times Best Seller List. Yet, everyone should master its contents as a short course in becoming a Rennaissance Person. There's an implied presmise here, which is that "everyone should be a Rennaissance Person." Why not? Of course making the course cuts down on Television. I have appreciated Barzun ever since his "House of Intellect" suggested we are becoming a PhD-acy, or as John Stuart Mill feared, are licensing brains. This book is a great road map to the world of literature that makes it unnecessary to attend school and get your ticket punched in order to be educated. As Thomas Carlyle pointed out: "The only real education in any era is a good library." I quote from memory and this may not be literally what he wrote. Of course that statement also implies that one reads and comprehends what they read in that library. The reader will not always be on familiar ground with "From Dawn to Decadence," and may take issue with Barzun's notion that we are over the hill. I do. I feel we have at least one or two more good Imperialistic Wars in us of the variety that will be decried by those who profit most from them. Also, be prepared to have lots of reference works at your elbow as you delve into Jaques. I do anyhow, but had to run for the libary every once in awhile. If you have a laptop, make the equivalent of flash cards to review what you didn't know. (And if you don't have a laptop, make the flash cards.) Christ how smart you'll sound at some future cocktail party. And please, please do put some of it to use. For example if a Crusade arises trying to overcome the great misconception that shooling automatically equates to education, join it. Not recommended for the congenitally dull and no danger they'll try it in most cases. I wonder where all those copies of this book went that were purchased when it was on the New York Times Best Seller list. Are they ostentatiously displayed on coffee tables? Mine isn't. I'm rereading it and stuffing all those good notes into my laptop. Stay away from me if you don't wish to be sloshed with erudition. And, thanks Jaques. Even if you did remind me that we are all comparative ignoramuses. At least I'm trying to do something about it.
Rating:
Summary: A Precious Resource
Review: People have criticized this book because the author seems to have an editorial perspective. I find him to be an excellent critical thinker who draws insightful conclusions and has the brilliance to identify consequences. Barzun had my attention from the first chapter where he made me wonder if the entire reformation sparked by Luther was an unintended consequence enabled by the newly introduced printing press. Don't miss this. It is lots of work, but the payoff is enormously fulfilling.
Rating:
Summary: Wish I could give it 10 stars...
Review: This is only a masterpiece. For one mind to have the breadth of knowledge required to synthesize this much of Western history and culture is asounding. To do it in such compelling prose when over ninety is beyond astounding. Get it and take real journey through time, space, the human mind and spirit. Don't let the length put you off. It can just as easily be read in sections. This is a wonderful second chance at the real Liberal Education you slept through in college. Don't miss it.
Rating: 
Summary: over my head
Review: Call me a jaded product of the late twentieth century, but certain of the author's attitudes and certain of the implications he makes in his narrative remind me too much of someone insecure about their feeling of irrelevance in the larger world--i.e., the world outside academia. As is all too often the sad fate of academic intellectuals, Dr. Barzun seems blinded by his insistence to apply an intellectual rigor to the study of history vis a vis the downfall of the culture he holds in such high regard. The last hundred pages of the book read like a testament to his insecurity that Western civilization is quickly slouching toward a low-brow hell (to borrow Bork's thesis). This is old hat, of course. No matter how much one might loathe Britney Spears, Eminem and any number of other pop icons of the past 50 (100?) years, one must remember that in his day, Shakespeare was considered a playwright as Redd Foxx was considered a comedian: bawdy but very talented and observant. How are we to be so arrogant as to judge the recent past from such a lofty perspective as Dr. Barzun wants us to? We simply can't, and it is on this note that his book falls on his own arrogance.
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