Verbatim of classic TV series where Kenneth Clark discussed civilization of Western Europe from collapse of Roman Europe to recent times.
I am not familiar with original TV program so for me this was the first introduction with Clark and I loved it,his way with words is very classy and he surely and swiftly moves from one subject to another,in fact there were so many interesting side-stories that I started to note everything down for future research,absolutely loved his style and often would re-read certain pages because this was educational and stylish at the same time. Sure,we can read between the lines and understand these opinions come from elderly gentleman of certain background (for example,women are not mentioned at all) but once this was understood,reader have lot to enjoy in here.
Every chapter covers some important innovation,be it in architecture,music,art or simply in change of thinking - Clark mentions Dante,Holbein,Mozart and Voltaire illustrating his stories with funny little anecdotes (H.G.Wells wouldn't dare to drive a car in France,because the temptation to run over a priest would be too strong for him) and there are literary thousands of informations that reader can treasure and savour later.
Some are dead-set against edition without illustrations,well I happened to buy the only available here and it was paperback with not a single illustration and wouldn't you know,it did not made any difference (except that is probably lighter to carry around on my travels than hardback,illustrated version) for me as I love READING,not just looking at pictures. I can read about any subject and find the illustration myself if I want to,we have internet now so everything is available. It reminds me of Alice's question of what's the point of book without pictures,well I am life-long passionate reader and for me the language and the style of the writer is more important than pictures.
This is beautiful,little book that covers centuries of innovations and I absolutely love it.
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