From Dawn to Decadence: 1500 to the Present, 500 Years of Western Cultural Life

With his book From Dawn to Decadence, Jacques Barzun does for Western cultural history what Bertrand Russell did for philosophy — he presents a comprehensive review of the subject in a lucid, personal and highly intelligent way. Naturally such a work is bound to be flawed and incomplete, and in Barzun's case he is insufficiently appreciative of 20th century artistic accomplishments. But the book is so well-written and well-structured, and with such intelligent and original insights throughout, that it is a consistently engaging read.