500 HUNDRED YEARS IS A LOT OF READING

Many readers seem to mistake Jacques Barzun's book as history. Well, it is and it isn't. Note the book's title, "From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life."

Barzun throws a lot of things into the cultural life cauldron and we shouldn't mistake this book as a history reference. It is a long but entertaining read. I had to renew it twice at the library and it was on a long reserve list. Fortunately, most people on the list returned it within two or three days so I didn't have a long wait. The size and the beginning of the book was rather daunting. When I only got through 179 pages on my first try I went to the back and started from the back and continued to the front. I found this a really good read.

While you could probably jump around reading this book, some sort of continuity gives it a special flavor. Mr. Barzun is a very knowledgeable about the western culture to include obscure heroes and facts to the delights of the mystery story. He throws in a lot of his own opinions and theories which are intriguing. Such as "interesting times" produce great art, etc.

I would not regard this as a real history in the traditional sense but a jumping off point for reading the references that Mr. Barzun provides.