The Birth of the Modern

World Society 1815–1830

By: Paul Johnson

Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon

This is an extraordinary chronicle of the fifteen years, 1815–1830, that laid the foundations of modern society. It is a history of people, ideas, politics, manners, morals, economics, art, science and technology, diplomacy, business and commerce, literature, and revolution.

From Wellington at Waterloo and Jackson at New Orleans to the surge of democratic power and reform, this tumultuous period saw the United States transform itself from an ex-colony into a formidable nation, Britain become the first industrial world power, Russia develop the fatal flaws that would engulf her in the twentieth century, and China and Japan set the stage for future development and catastrophe. Provocative, challenging, and listenable, this remarkable story is told through the lives and actions of its outstanding, curious, and ordinary people.

Paul Johnson is a historian whose work ranges over the millennia and the whole gamut of human activities. He regularly writes book reviews for several UK magazines and newspapers, such as the Literary Review and the Spectator, and he lectures around the world. He lives in London.

©1991 Paul Johnson (P)1991 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“A colossal effort of energy and imagination.” (Hugh Thomas, author of Rivers of Gold)

“Fascinating…A savory social history, spiced with lively gossip…It is never dull. In many ways a tour de force.” ( New York Times Book Review)

Amazing…Crowded with wonderful portraiture, heroic feats of intellect and imagination…Reads at times like one of the novels it describes so brilliantly.” ( Wall Street Journal)

Great!

Heavy stuff, but brilliant analysis. Leads one to wish to hear more and more history by Johnson.

the most interesting history book I've ever read

Any additional comments?

This book pretty much deals with just fifteen years in the history of (mostly) the English speaking world, but it's a most fascinating fifteen years. I found this read so satisfying, so full of "I never knew thats", so clear and thorough in its recounting of every facet of the history of this time: of its technical developments, its intellectual inventiveness, its social conceits, its political and geographic changes, its influence on the years that followed. The early nineteenth century transitioning into the industrial revolution has always been one of my favorite times in the history of the world, here so well told by a meticulous historian who is also a most talented storyteller, that I felt like a time-traveler being treated to a visit back to the years 1815 to 1830. I read this book with delight, then reread it once and then again because it's so rich in detail and because those few years made such a difference in the direction the world headed from there. I am neither historian nor particularly a history geek; but this is the way I think all history ought to be written. I enjoyed this history more than any other I have ever read. Please! More from this author.

The way all history books should be written

I had put this book in my wish list about a year and a half ago (based on an Audible suggestion), but had hesitated to purchase it because of its length. Other histories of this length that I have listened to seem to have long dreary parts that make listening painful. This is not the case with this book. The writing is lively and insightful and the narrator, a brit, has a crisp enjoyable voice with impeccable diction. I walk out of doors; so this is critical for me.
Johnson illustrates the fifteen years of his book with a clever weave of the arts, science, technology, politics, sex, war and revolution. He lets the protagonists speak for themselves and is not circumspect with his opinions or the opinions of contemporaries. Having finished this book, I feel that I have a solid sense of the period, what happened, what people thought and did and how society changed.

Recommend for serious history buffs

It's difficult for me to review this one because it took me so, so long to get through. When this book gripped me, it was great; but there were many times where I had difficulty keeping my attention focused. There's definitely a lot to learn from this book; great detail. But I wouldn't call this a page turner; again, with the exception of those times where it gets really interesting. This is a very long book and it will introduce you to many names. I would also suggest that the reader not "speed listen" to this one. If you truly want to get all of this book you'll need to listen at 1.0 speed when there's nothing else to focus on. In other words, this is a "laying down and listening to an audio book" type of book, versus a "listen to audio book while driving to work" type of book.

I really appreciated that the author was not stuck on being super PC or dividing up things equally between all possible places and groups. Much time is spent on Europe, and England in particular, but that makes sense when you consider the time period.

I adore this narrator. She's perfect for the genre.

interesting events... but not much...

... considering of God and His sovereignty Over the events of history. Many things could have gone in a very different way for Britain and America and other nations.

Paul Johnson at his brilliant best

The sweep of events woven skillfully together is just amazing. Narrator's accent is wonderful but I found her voice strident and hard to listen to. 48 hours felt like it, though the story was just endlessly compelling.

Sweeping, Eccentric, Joyful

It is easy to be awed by the sweep of knowledge that Paul Johnson displays. Yet the intensity of the research is matched by boundless curiosity, flashes of high humor, thumbnail sketches of dozens of memorable characters wilth wonderful gossippy asides and a kind of thrillling optimism that courses through the writing.

Paul Johnson is an eccentric and controversial writer. He was trained as a historian but was not affiliated with any univerity -- he was a journalist, started out politically left, moved pretty sharply right, and wrote books for a general audience, with a kind of storytelling flair and fearlessness that a professional historian would never allow himself. He doesn't hide his feelings; he dislikes Napoleon, loves the Duke of Wellington, is in awe of the brilliant and hard-working working class engineers and tinkerers who without formal training launched the Industrial Revolution with their inventions. He doesn't hide how terrifying "modernity" was then (and by implication now); he captures the accelerating pace of 19th century life, how fast it moved, how cruel and murderous it so often was, yet there's a joy that underlies this story: he tips his hat to all the gifts that modernity has created. The narrator captures the author's voice beautifully and she seems completely at ease reproducing the accents (American southern, upper-class British, insurgent Irish, etc) of all the colorful individuals who come into these pages..

Johnson is endlessly curious, constantly taking digressions -- one minute he's talking about how the British Navy in the 1820s worked to eliminate the slave trade, a few pages later he's with a group of visionary and ambitious painters in Paris changing how watercolor paintings are made and reproduced, or how duelling was gradually driven out of modern life, how central heating started to reach the middle classes, how organized sports (boxing especially) swept through the UK. The book is very long and digressive, but I never felt impatient -- not just because the sketches were so compelling, but because he is throughout pullilng forward his themes and preoccupations. The horrors in this history (the massacres of the Napoleonic wars, the ruthless efficiency of the slave trade, the extermination of indigenous peoples in the New World) are vividly captured, but Johnson also pays close attention to how modern societies find ways to correct course. Listening to this, you marvel at the nuances of human progress, and emerge enriched, informed, touched and also a litlte more optimistic about our own brand of modernity, our future.

Surprised By a Negative Review

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is 50 hours of history on the years 1815-1830. The only reason I wouldn't recommend this book is that you have to be a pretty hardcore history buff to want to listen to it. That said, it is written with Paul Johnson's usual sweeping and articulate panache, chock full of things you didn't know, and short biographies of dozens of important figures of the era, from Napoleon to Andrew Jackson.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Birth of the Modern?

The description of the deaf and off-the-charts eccentric Beethoven, composing while walking though the countryside, scaring the cows and inciting small boys to throw stones at him.

Have you listened to any of Wanda McCaddon’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have heard her as Nadia May, and she is a great talent. Her voice wears very well through 50 hours of hard slogging and you have the sense she is quite literate, knowledgable, and fully up to a very rich text.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No.

Any additional comments?

Paul Johnson fills in for all those history classes we skipped in college. He is absolutely brilliant.

Loved it. Comprehensive history.

History written in a way to include societal thoughts and feelings. Cram end with facts.

Not Going Anywhere

I've been listening for over an hour and it's just a sequence of history bits that don't seem to say anything about the devleopment of the modern world. I skipped forward a few times and it was the same. I feel like I wasted my money.