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THE WORLD IN 1800 by Olivier Bernier

THE WORLD IN 1800

by Olivier Bernier

Pub Date: March 3rd, 2000
ISBN: 0-471-30371-2
Publisher: Wiley

A sweeping, impressively argued portrait of the dawn of the modern age that is also the most ambitious work yet by French

historian Bernier (Fireworks at Dusk, 1993, etc.). In 1800, Bernier notes, the "Europeanization of the world" was well underway: European ideas and European technology were stirring up change in almost every part of the globe and, even more vividly, European nations were extending their sway by conquest or economic dominance throughout Asia, Africa, and the Pacific. European conflicts were not, of course, anything new. But two events at the end of the 18th century—namely, the American and French revolutions—changed European politics forever and provided an enduring lesson for the wider world. The flourishing American republic provided a model of democratic government that would prove profoundly attractive and influential over the next two centuries, while the French revolution—larger, bloodier, and far more alarming—threw into question the 18th century's serene belief in the power of reason. It also served as the testing ground for a host of new institutions and ideas—state bureaucracies, standing national armies, new classes and social orders—and opened the way for the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, who quickly became the single most influential figure on the continent. Bernier focuses on the twilight of the French Revolution and Napoleon's rise. He also devotes considerable space to tracing an outline of the fledgling years of the American republic, offering shrewd and original readings of Washington, Adams, and Jefferson. Although he is not, by and large, concerned with depicting the lives and experiences of the poor and laboring classes, Bernier is able to offer a panoramic portrait of the impact of new ideas on the world by focusing on leaders and thinkers and the events they precipitated.

A distinguished work of popular history. (photos, maps, not seen)