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The Swerve: How the World Became Modern Audiobook
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(3.00) - 6,304 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Renowned historian Stephen Greenblatt's works shoot to the top of the New York Times best-seller list. With The Swerve, Greenblatt transports listeners to the dawn of the Renaissance and chronicles the life of an intrepid book lover who rescued the Roman philosophical text On the Nature of Things from certain oblivion. "More wonderfully illuminating Renaissance history from a master scholar and historian."-Kirkus Reviews, starred review
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"Academic Stephen Greenblatt has crafted a story of awe. How could one manuscript - On the Nature of Things, by Lucretius - so profoundly influence the development of the Western world? Uncovering that mystery and clearing delineating the result of that discovery, Greenblatt weaves into his work tangents on the most interesting things like what the Romans read in Pompeii, what monks thought of their task of copying manuscripts, and how ancient paper was made. The book is fascinating!"
— Dana (4 out of 5 stars)
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“Greenblatt makes another intellectually fetching foray into the Renaissance…More wonderfully illuminating Renaissance history from a master scholar and historian.”
— Kirkus Reviews -
“The Swerve is an intense, emotional telling of a true story, one with much at stake for all of us. And the further you read, the more astonishing it becomes. It’s a chapter in how we became what we are, how we arrived at the worldview of the present. No one can tell the whole story, but Greenblatt seizes on a crucial pivot, a moment of recovery, of transmission, as amazing as anything in fiction.”
— Philadelphia Inquirer -
“Can a poem change the world? Harvard professor and bestselling Shakespeare biographer Greenblatt ably shows in this mesmerizing intellectual history that it can. A richly entertaining read about a radical ancient Roman text that shook Renaissance Europe and inspired shockingly modern ideas (like the atom) that still reverberate today.”
— Newsweek -
“It’s fascinating to watch Greenblatt trace the dissemination of these ideas through fifteenth-century Europe and beyond, thanks in good part to Bracciolini’s recovery of Lucretius’ poem.”
— Salon -
“[The Swerve] is [a] thrilling, suspenseful tale that left this reader inspired and full of questions about the ongoing project known as human civilization.”
— Boston Globe -
“A fascinating, intelligent look at what may well be the most historically resonant book-hunt of all time.”
— Booklist -
“Pleasure may or may not be the true end of life, but for book lovers, few experiences can match the intellectual-aesthetic enjoyment delivered by a well-wrought book. In the world of serious nonfiction, Stephen Greenblatt is a pleasure maker without peer.”
— Newsday -
“[A] gloriously learned page-turner, both biography and intellectual history.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“The Swerve is one of those brilliant works of nonfiction that’s so jam-packed with ideas and stories it literally boggles the mind.”
— NPR -
“A warm, intimate…volume of apple-cheeked popular intellectual history. Mr. Greenblatt…is a very serious and often thorny scholar…But he also writes crowd pleasers…There is abundant evidence here of what is Mr. Greenblatt’s great and rare gift as a writer: an ability, to borrow a phrase from The Swerve, to feel fully ‘the concentrated force of the buried past.’”
— New York Times
Awards
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Winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction
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Winner of the 2011 National Book Award for Nonfiction
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A New York Times bestseller
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Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award
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A 2011 Barnes & Noble Best Book for Nonfiction
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A 2011 Publishers Weekly Best Book for Nonfiction
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A 2011 ALA Notable Book for Fiction
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A 2011 New York Times Book Review Notable Book
The Swerve Listener Reviews
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" Entertaining. Sort of like a very long, good New Yorker piece. "
— Ross, 2/17/2014 -
" Great! Now to learn more about Hypatia of Alexandria, Pierre Gassendi, Montaigne, Leonardo Bruni, Jerome of Prague, Thomas Harriot, Giordano Bruno, Jan Hus and John Wycliffe. I love when books lead you down new avenues of discovery! "
— Deb, 2/17/2014 -
" A long lost Latin poem found, shaping the future of modern thought "
— Stacy, 2/12/2014 -
" Lucretius was obviously a genius and Poggio's book hunting quest is fascinating. This discovery, along with others, really did help Western Europe pull itself out of the dark ages. The author writes with passion and while its not a quick read, he always seems to make it interesting. "
— Jamison, 1/26/2014 -
" I'm glad I read it but it was a dry read for me. It is interesting the correlations of one person resurrecting/finding an old text can have such a far reaching affects on current society and religious reactions to it though. So if you are one that are interested in ancient manuscripts and people who chose to search for them long ago you may enjoy it more than I. "
— Dawn, 1/19/2014 -
" Great book. It was informative and interesting, and the author's writing style made it an enjoyable read. "
— Amy, 1/5/2014 -
" A must-read, AMAZING story and book. "
— Kenda, 12/23/2013 -
" So fun. An intellectual adventure. Only the dead would not love this book. "
— Jason, 12/21/2013 -
" I liked the content, but historical references were numerouse. It reads more like a term paper than a novel. But good stuff. "
— Denise, 9/15/2013 -
" I realized very quickly that this would be a magazine article I would love, but I could just not stay interested for 300 pages. Great writing, thought-provoking etc etc etc. But too many books, too little time. "
— Alexandra, 6/12/2013 -
" Fully rad, very readable. Features renaissance humanists being shitheads, bad popes, and a crazy poem about molecules and sex that freaked everybody out. "
— Pete, 6/11/2013 -
" Thomas Jefferson owned at least five Latin editions of "On the Nature of Things" Now I know why. A must read. "
— John, 2/14/2013 -
" Elegantly traces the winding path of a school of philosophy that sets religious paradigms to one side. The line runs from Epicurus, Lucretius, Florentine humanists and Montaigne, through the enlightenment to our times. "
— Eamonn, 12/17/2012 -
" very interesting book about how an obscure ancient poem, On the Nature of Things, changed the course of history... "
— Paula, 10/20/2012 -
" I really liked this book! It was actually more about one of the great book hunters - Poggio - who located Lucretius' manuscript in a monastery. Very interesting history! "
— Heidi, 10/12/2012 -
" A well-told tale of intellectual history and survival. Lovers of the book will find this an enormously satisfying romp. "
— Terry, 8/1/2012 -
" Background on political and social climate of ancient Rome, the Middle Ages, and early Renaissance was fascinating. For me it lost a little drive after the big discovery was finally made. "
— Katra, 7/23/2012 -
" I feel like a dunce after reading how much others enjoyed this book :/. Holy cow, to me it was like watching paint dry - or worse, someone saying, "i had the weirdest dream..." & then espousing on it while i remained trapped @ water cooler ugh! "
— Meg, 7/16/2012 -
" So apparently my modern life owes it existence to a 2000-year old poem. Cool. "
— Mike, 4/9/2012 -
" Lucky thing those atoms swerve so we can get a bit of freedom in our lives. I think I am a closet Epicurean. This book is fun and covers lots of factual material. "
— William, 11/7/2011 -
" I loved it! Greenblatt always tells a great story at the same time as he provides fascinating facts and speculations. "
— Joanne, 11/5/2011 -
" Book hunting in the 15th century -- actually a fascinating topic. Just as fascinating as the story of the rediscovery and popularity of Lucretius' On the Nature of Things. "
— William, 10/31/2011 -
" A good book (Swerve) about a book I love (De Rerum Natura by Lucretius). I learned a lot... Thank you, Poggio Bracciolini! "
— Julia, 10/22/2011 -
" Fascinating telling of the rediscovery of Lucretious Epicurian poem and its influence. Maybe reaches a bit at times. "
— Tom, 10/15/2011 -
" Wonderfully written; Greenblatt has a novelist's gift as a story teller. Fascinating if somewhat superficial description of Epicurean philosophy, as exemplified by the Roman poet Lucretius, of early Renaissance thought and politics, and of the intersection between those things. "
— Elliot, 10/11/2011
About Stephen Greenblatt
Stephen Greenblatt, PhD, is Cogan
University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University. General editor of The
Norton Shakespeare, he is also the author of several books. He has edited
seven collections of criticism, including Cultural Mobility: A
Manifesto, and is a founding coeditor of the journal Representations.
His honors include the MLA’s James Russell Lowell Prize for Shakespearean
Negotiations: The Circulation of Social Energy in Renaissance England, the
Distinguished Humanist Award from the Mellon Foundation, the Wilbur Cross Medal
from the Yale University Graduate School, the William Shakespeare Award for
Classical Theatre, the Erasmus Institute Prize, two Guggenheim Fellowships, and
the Distinguished Teaching Award from the University of California, Berkeley.
He was president of the Modern Language Association of America and is a fellow
of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical
Society, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
About Edoardo Ballerini
Edoardo Ballerini, an American actor, director, film producer, and multiaward–winning narrator. He has won several Audie Awards for best narration, including for 2019’s Best Male Narrator of the Year. He was named by Booklist as winner of their 2023 Voice of Choice Award, and was named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine in 2019. He has narrated over two hundred audiobooks, from classics to modern masters, from bestsellers to the inspirational, from Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners to spine-tingling series, and much more. In television and film, he is best known for his roles in A Murder at the End of the World, The Sopranos, 24, I Shot Andy Warhol, Dinner Rush, and Romeo Must Die. He is also trained in theater and continues to do much work on stage.