SOURCE: “What It All Means: Why Jacques Barzun Is America's Greatest Teacher,” in Los Angeles Times Book Review, May 21, 2000, pp. 1-3.

In the following review of From Dawn to Decadence, McNeill praises Barzun's treatment of Western cultural history from the Reformation to the First World War, but opposes Barzun's disdain for twentieth-century culture and his bleak view of the future.

“The bulk of the book … is a delight because it presents a strong character full of surprises. He is learned but practical, unmistakably of his time … conservative but unconventional. His genius is in common sense … unusual judgments made by clear-eyed observation and couched in lapidary words.” Jacques Barzun, distinguished historian, critic and academic administrator, uses these words to characterize Boswell's “Life of Johnson.” They also constitute an apt appraisal of Barzun's own, and truly amazing, new book [From Dawn to Decadence].

Like Samuel Johnson, Barzun is impressively learned...