Buy this book with A History of the American People by Paul M. Johnson today!

Buy Together Today: $27.68

A History of the Jews by Paul M. Johnson  (72)  $12.03

Intellectuals by Paul M. Johnson  (99)

Intellectuals: From Marx and Tolstoy to Sartre and Chomsky (P.S.) by Paul M. Johnson  (2)  $11.86

History of Christianity by Paul Johnson  (27)  $13.60

Creators: From Chaucer and Durer to Picasso and Disney by Paul M. Johnson  (14)  $6.99

› Explore similar items : Books (50)

Amazon.com
The history of the 20th century is marked by two great narratives: nations locked in savage wars over ideology and territory, and scientists overturning the received wisdom of preceding generations. For Paul Johnson, the modern era begins with one of the second types of revolutions, in 1919, when English astronomer Sir Arthur Eddington translated observations from a solar eclipse into proof of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, which turned Newtonian physics on its head. Eddington's research became an international cause célèbre: "No exercise in scientific verification, before or since, has ever attracted so many headlines or become a topic of universal conversation," Johnson writes, and it made Einstein into science's first real folk hero.

Einstein looms large over Johnson's narrative, as do others who sought to harness the forces of nature and society: men like Mao Zedong, "a big, brutal, earthy and ruthless peasant," and Adolf Hitler, creator of "a brutal, secure, conscience-less, successful, and, for most Germans, popular regime." Johnson takes a contentious conservative viewpoint throughout: he calls the 1960s "America's suicide attempt," deems the Watergate affair "a witch-hunt ... run by liberals in the media," and deems the rise of Margaret Thatcher a critical element in Western civilization's "recovery of freedom"--arguable propositions all, but ones advanced in a stimulating and well-written narrative that provides much food for thought in the course of its more than 800 pages. --Gregory McNamee --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Robert A. Nisbet,New York Times Book Review

"Truly a distinguished work of history...Modern Times unites historical and critical consciousness. It is far from being a simple chronicle, though a vast wealth of events and personages and historical changes fill it....We can take a great deal of intellectual pleasure in this book." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

First Sentence:
The modern world began on 29 May 1919 when photographs of a solar eclipse, taken on the island of Principe off West Africa and at Sobral Brazil, confirmed the truth of a new theory of the universe. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, Soviet Russia, New York, South Africa, White House, Soviet Union, Middle East, Cold War, Lloyd George, Chiang Ching, State Department, Latin America, Secretary of State, Great War, Second World War, West Germany, Foreign Minister, Red Army, Security Council, Fourth Republic, Foreign Office, Pearl Harbor, Saudi Arabia, Versailles Treaty, Cultural Revolution New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

Search Inside This Book: