Dark Brilliance

The Age of Reason: From Descartes to Peter the Great

Paul Strathern

A sweeping history of The Age of Reason, revealing how—although it was a time of great progress—it was also an era of brutality and intolerance with a very human cost.

During the 1600s—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 revolutionary period that saw great advances in areas such as art, science, philosophy, political theory, and economics.

However, all this was accomplished against a background of extreme political turbulence on a continental scale, in the form of internal conflicts and international wars. Indeed, the Age of Reason itself was born at the same time as the Thirty Years' War, which would devastate central Europe to an extent that would not be experienced again until World War I.

This period also saw the development of European empires across the world, as well as a lucrative new transatlantic commerce that brought transformative riches to Western European society. However, there was a dark underside to this brilliant wealth: it was dependent upon human slavery.

By exploring all the key events and bringing to life some of the most influential characters of the era—including Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Newton, Descartes, Spinoza, Louis XIV, and Charles I—acclaimed historian Paul Strathern tells the vivid story of this paradoxical age, while also exploring the painful cost of creating the progress and modernity upon which the Western world was built.

Paul Strathern is a Somerset Maugham prize-winning novelist, and his nonfiction works include The Artist, the Philosopher, and the Warrior: The Intersecting Lives of Da Vinci, Machiavelli, and Borgia and the World They Shaped (Bantam), Napoleon in Egypt (Bantam) and Mendeleyev’s Dream: The Quest for the Elements (Thomas Dunne). He lives in England.

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Endorsements & Reviews

"First-rate accounts of events and geniuses from past centuries. A good read." Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Paul Strathern’s The Other Renaissance:

"An enlightening and fascinating study. Mr. Strathern’s canvas is immense, yet the picture he paints is never less than pellucid, and packed with lively detail and fascinating facts." The Wall Street Journal

"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 (London)

"From art and astronomy to medicine and exploration. The author's biographical style is invariably engaging. Lively and wide-ranging." Financial Times

"Strathern believes that historians of the Renaissance have focused on Southern Europe to the detriment of the many technical, artistic, and intellectual advances that occurred north of the Alps. To rebalance this history, he describes the contributions of those who lived outside the Mediterranean world. The lives portrayed are deeply fascinating... A docent-style stroll through the pantheon of Renaissance thinkers of Northern Europe." Kirkus Reviews

"Following the great minds of the [Renaissance] period in insightful biographical chapters, Strathern’s book sets the record straight on this second revival." The New Criterion

Praise for The Medici and The Borgias:

“Highlights [the family’s] literary accomplishments in detail, as well as the story of how the Medici became the Renaissance’s most influential family.” The New York Times Book Review

“The prolific author continues to do what he does best—bring history to wondrous life—with this thorough history of the Medici family. A fantastically comprehensive history covering the breadth of the great learning, art, politics, and religion of the period.” Kirkus Reviews (starred)

“An excellent history. An entertaining tale of the rise and fall of an ambitious banking family.” The Sunday Times (London)

"In this accessible look behind the curtain, Strathern lays out the history of the infamous Italian clan. Strathern makes a tangled and thorny history readable." Publishers Weekly