Knowingo
Try 7 days free
The cover of Modern Times

Modern Times

Paul Johnson

How did the modern world, born on the day relativity was confirmed, pass through despotic utopias and terror to a recovery of freedom?

Get the app Read on the web

At a glance

Author
Paul Johnson

Why read it

  • You will see the twentieth century as one connected story, from Lenin's first despotic utopia through world war and genocide to the recovery of freedom
  • You will understand relativity through an analogy to perspective in painting, which Johnson uses to show how it changed perception
  • You will weigh Johnson's bold claim that one scientific confirmation marks the start of the modern world

Who it is for

  • A general reader wanting a sweeping history of the twentieth century
  • A student linking science to politics and culture
  • A reader who enjoys strong, opinionated narrative history

Contents

  1. ONE A Relativistic World
  2. TWO The First Despotic Utopias
  3. THREE Waiting for Hitler
  4. FOUR Legitimacy in Decadence
  5. FIVE An Infernal Theocracy, a Celestial Chaos
  6. SIX The Last Arcadia
  7. SEVEN Dégringolade
  8. EIGHT The Devils
  9. NINE The High Noon of Aggression
  10. TEN The End of Old Europe
  11. ELEVEN The Watershed Year
  12. TWELVE Superpower and Genocide
  13. THIRTEEN Peace by Terror
  14. FOURTEEN The Bandung Generation
  15. FIFTEEN Caliban’s Kingdoms
  16. SIXTEEN Experimenting with Half Mankind
  17. SEVENTEEN The European Lazarus
  18. EIGHTEEN America’s Suicide Attempt
  19. NINETEEN The Collectivist Seventies
  20. TWENTY The Recovery of Freedom
  21. Source Notes
  22. 1 A Relativistic World
  23. 2 The First Despotic Utopias
  24. 3 Waiting for Hitler
  25. 4 Legitimacy in Decadence
  26. 5 An Infernal Theocracy, a Celestial Chaos
  27. 6 The Last Arcadia
  28. 7 Dégringolade
  29. 8 The Devils
  30. 9 The High Noon of Aggression
  31. 10 The End of Old Europe
  32. 11 The Watershed Year
  33. 12 Superpower and Genocide
  34. 13 Peace by Terror
  35. 14 The Bandung Generation
  36. 15 Caliban’s Kingdoms
  37. 16 Experimenting with Half Humanity
  38. 17 The European Lazarus
  39. 18 America’s Attempted Suicide
  40. 19 The Collectivist Seventies
  41. 20 The Recovery of Freedom

More books like this