The late 19th and early 20th centuries have long been a topic of great interest to me, and I blame Barbara Tuchman. If she hadn't written so engagingly about the events leading up to WII, and about the war itself in The Proud Tower and The Guns of August, (I vividly recall reading the former in an elevator, missing my floor, and not caring one bit.) I might never have gotten so hooked on that era's history. No, that's a lie, I would have, but Tuchman's work was a gateway drug, which I revisit from time to time.

Study of that era has made me curious about the origins of the events that occurred during those years (And after, but that's another review entirely.) which is why I enjoyed The Long 19th Century so much. Beginning with the French revolution, and following the threads of revolution and change throughout the century, Weiner presents a clear, concise view of those years, of how this event informed that one, and that one informed many others, and gives the sense that some things, WWII for example, were inevitable given the political climate in Europe.

He introduces us to some of the great men of the era: Bismarck, Kaiser Wilhelm, Gladstone, Napoleon III, Mussolini, Lenin, Nicholas II of Russia, and many other movers and shakers whose personalities as much as their politics shaped the world of the 19th century. His lectures on Bismarck were so interesting that I hit up my local library for books about him. Who knew? Okay, well people who study Bismarck probably knew how interesting a man he was, but I didn't until I listened to these lectures.

And the same is true for so much of what Weiner discusses, not just new things, but new facets to the things I already knew. And that's why we set ourselves to learn, isn't it? To encounter new facts, new ideas, new things to ponder. If you're even remotely as interested in the history of this era as I am, I recommend you give this series a listen. You will learn new things, and you'll enjoy the process. ( )