Elegantly written. - New York Times Book Review. Olivier Bernier's richly detailed, engaging, and elegant book offers a splendid refresher course on a pivotal moment in world history - the dawn of the modern era. - Francine du Plessix Gray. Bernier's style is easeful and informed; he has an acute eye for a colourful, clever, and iconic image. - Times (London). A sweeping, impressively argued portrait of the dawn of the modern age...A distinguished work of popular history. - Kirkus Reviews. In the year 1800, the world found itself enmeshed in a web of mercantilism, war, and political intrigue, out of which a new world - our world - was struggling to be born. Bringing all of his talents as a historian and first-rate storyteller to bear, Olivier Bernier takes us on a fascinating journey around the world, providing a finely textured portrait of civilization at the dawn of the modern era. Olivier Bernier (New York, NY) is the author of Fireworks at Dusk: Paris in the Thirties; Words of Fire, Deeds of Blood; and Louis XIV: A Royal Life. He is widely acclaimed for his lectures at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.