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This book begins with the Protestant Reformation in 1517, and continues to the present day. Many times histories can be very dry and difficult to read, but this 877 page book covers 500 years of Western Cultural Life in a very readable manner. The focus is on all the facets of Western culture through the centuries. This book is about 500 years of art, politics, religion, writing, philosophy, science, morals, and manners. One of the things that makes the book so interesting is that not only are historical and cultural revolutions covered, but the part that people had in important events and their effects on real people are described. The importance of individual people is greatly stressed in the book. This book shows that we all have many connections with the past. The events of each century have effected what happened in the following centuries, and in our lives today. Jacques Barzun describes our current age as being decadent; but that sense of decadence is really the end of one age and a new beginning for the future. That new beginning can see another flowering of Western culture. This book is the work of a lifetime, and I always had that awareness while reading it. There is a vast richness in the depth and range of this book that any review can only briefly describe. Reading this book is like looking back through the footprints of time, and seeing many of the places that we came from. Then there is also a vision of the path that may lay before us in the future. I recommend this excellent book to everyone.