Dark Brilliance: The Age of Reason from Descartes to Peter the Great

Author:   Paul Strathern
Publisher:   Atlantic Books
Edition:   Main
ISBN:  

9781838958558


Pages:   400
Publication Date:   01 February 2024
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

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Dark Brilliance: The Age of Reason from Descartes to Peter the Great


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Overview

Between the end of the Renaissance and the start of the Enlightenment, Europe lived through an era known as the Age of Reason. This was a period which saw advances in areas such as art, science, philosophy, political theory and economics. However, all this was achieved against a background of extreme turbulence in the form of internal conflicts and international wars. While the 'land of liberty' was beginning to import slaves from Africa. Focusing on key characters from the seventeenth to the eighteenth centuries, including Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Newton, Descartes, Spinoza, Louis XIV and Charles I, Dark Brilliance is a fascinating and wide-ranging history that explores the human costs of imposing progress and modernity.

Full Product Details

Author:   Paul Strathern
Publisher:   Atlantic Books
Imprint:   Atlantic Books
Edition:   Main
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 3.50cm , Length: 24.00cm
Weight:   0.660kg
ISBN:  

9781838958558


ISBN 10:   183895855
Pages:   400
Publication Date:   01 February 2024
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Table of Contents

Prologue: Prologue 1: Reason and Rationale 2: Two Italian Artists 3: Spread of the Scientific Revolution 4: The English Civil War and Thomas Hobbes 5: The New World and the Golden Age of Spain 6: Two Transcendent Artists 7: The Money Men and the Markets 8: Two Artists of the Dutch Golden Age 9: The Sun King and Versailles 10: England Comes of Age 11: A Quiet City in South Holland 12: Exploration 13: A Courtly Interlude 14: Spinoza and Locke 15: The Survival and Spread of the Continent of Reason 16: New Realities 17: Logic Personified 18: On the Shoulders of Giants Epilogue: Epilogue

Reviews

Lively... Strathern's entertaining cast of often garrulous northerners, their origins ranging from Paris to rainy London, discovered things that made us what we are today... He describes their contributions in clear-sighted and effective prose, making complex ideas instantly intelligible... Full of pleasing anecdotes, and myths are duly dispatched along the way. * The Times on The Other Renaissance * A thought-provoking re-examination of the great Florentine artists, scientists and business wizards of the Renaissance... Strathern has an engaging habit of dwelling on the close connection in the Florentine cultural sphere between art and money, matters seldom so intimately juxtaposed...His prose glimmers with the spark of rekindled discovery. * Wall Street Journal on The Florentines *


Strathern's canvas is immense, yet the picture he paints is never less than pellucid, and packed with lively detail and fascinating facts -- John Banville * Wall Street Journal on The Other Renaissance * Strathern has a good eye for striking details and arresting anecdotes * Literary Review on The Other Renaissance * Strathern combines diligent research with an exemplary narrative verve and keeps the pages turning * Financial Times on Death in Florence * Strathern has done his research thoroughly, and tells a good story well * Sunday Telegraph on The Medici * This is popular history at its narrative best - rich in colour, character and consequence * The Times on The Artist, the Philosopher and the Warrior *


Strathern's canvas is immense, yet the picture he paints is never less than pellucid, and packed with lively detail and fascinating facts -- John Banville * Wall Street Journal on The Other Renaissance * Strathern has a good eye for striking details and arresting anecdotes * Literary Review on The Other Renaissance * Strathern combines diligent research with an exemplary narrative verve and keeps the pages turning * Financial Times on Death in Florence * Strathern has done his research thoroughly, and tells a good story well * Sunday Telegraph on The Medici * This is popular history at its narrative best - rich in colour, character and consequence * The Times on The Artist, the Philosopher and the Warrior * He [Strathern] is adroit in bringing together his personalities and wider currents and illuminates them with vivid detail. * New Statesman *


Author Information

Paul Strathern studied philosophy at Trinity College, Dublin. He is a Somerset Maugham Award-winning novelist; author of two series of books - Philosophers in 90 Minutes and The Big Idea: Scientists who Changed the World; and several works of non-fiction, including The Borgias, The Florentines and The Other Renaissance.

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