Paul Johnson

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

A Short History

The Renaissance holds an undying place in our imagination, its great heroes still our own, from Michelangelo and Leonardo to Dante and Chaucer. This period of profound evolution in European thought is credited with transforming the West from medieval to modern and producing the most astonishing outpouring of artistic creation the world has ever known. But what was it? In this masterly work, the incomparable Paul Johnson tells us. He explains the economic, technological, and social developments that provide a backdrop to the age’s achievements and focuses closely on the lives and works of its most important figures. A commanding short narrative of this vital period, The Renaissance is also a universally profound meditation on the wellsprings of innovation.

The Renaissance

0de8d4e4-a253-41a7-b817-945b64591f77-1

Former library copy of George Washington: The Founding Father by Paul Johnson 

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

Oklahoma

The Founding Father

A portrait of the first American president examines how his character reflected eighteenth-century values, citing his pivotal contributions to the creation of the Constitution and his leadership during the Revolutionary War.

George Washington

fdd8b479-de90-4b2f-adcf-01b9b069ae34

Louisiana

A Biography from a Believer

A portrait of Jesus seeks to reveal his relevance in the modern world, drawing on historical and intellectual sources to discuss Jesus's role as a central figure in a dominant religion and his inspiration of both conflict and morality.

Jesus

1f7689a6-8590-4e35-83c3-e1a00af04958-0

Maryland

Portrait of a Genius

Eminent historian Paul Johnson provides a rich, succinct portrait of Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin is arguably the most influential scientist of all time. His Origin of Species forever changed our concept of the world's creation. 

Darwin's revolutionary career is the perfect vehicle for historian Paul Johnson. Marked by the insightful observation, spectacular wit, and highly readable prose for which Johnson is so well regarded, Darwin brings the gentleman-scientist and his times brilliantly into focus. From Darwin's birth into great fortune to his voyage aboard the Beagle, to the long-delayed publication of his masterpiece, Johnson delves into what made this Victorian gentleman into a visionary scientist--and into the tragic flaws that later led Darwin to support the burgeoning eugenics movement.

Johnson's many admirers as well as history and science buffs will be grateful for this superb account of Darwin and the everlasting impact of his discoveries.

Darwin

fbc1e10e-fe70-44df-be22-470d98e50e95-1

Georgia

A Man for Our Times

“Spectacular . . . A delight to read.” —The Wall Street Journal From bestselling biographer and historian Paul Johnson, a brilliant portrait of Socrates, the founding father of philosophy In his highly acclaimed style, historian Paul Johnson masterfully disentangles centuries of scarce sources to offer a riveting account of Socrates, who is often hailed as the most important thinker of all time. Johnson provides a compelling picture of Athens in the fifth century BCE, and of the people Socrates reciprocally delighted in, as well as many enlightening and intimate analyses of specific aspects of his personality. Enchantingly portraying "the sheer power of Socrates's mind, and its unique combination of steel, subtlety, and frivolity," Paul Johnson captures the vast and intriguing life of a man who did nothing less than supply the basic apparatus of the human mind.

Socrates

c0668e55-ef60-4ec2-b760-1e20c1be9f1d-1

Excellent condition, no significant signs of wear. No markings in the text.

Minnesota

Oversized Hardcover (4 to 6 lbs)

Arkansas

"The creation of the United States of America is the greatest of all human adventures," begins Paul Johnson. "No other national story holds such tremendous lessons, for the American people themselves and for the rest of mankind."

In his prize-winning classic, Johnson presents an in-depth portrait of American history from the first colonial settlements to the Clinton administration. This is the story of the men and women who shaped and led the nation and the ordinary people who collectively created its unique character. Littered with letters, diaries, and recorded conversations, it details the origins of their struggles for independence and nationhood, their heroic efforts and sacrifices to deal with the 'organic sin' of slavery and the preservation of the Union to its explosive economic growth and emergence as a world power. Johnson discusses contemporary topics such as the politics of racism, education, the power of the press, political correctness, the growth of litigation, and the influence of women throughout history. He sees Americans as a problem-solving people and the story of their country as "essentially one of difficulties being overcome by intelligence and skill, by faith and strength of purpose, by courage and persistence... Looking back on its past, and forward to its future, the auguries are that it will not disappoint humanity."

Sometimes controversial and always provocative, A HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE is one author's challenging and unique interpretation of American history. Johnson's views of individuals, events, themes, and issues are original, critical, and in the end admiring, for he is, above all, a strong believer in the history and the destiny of the American people.

A History of the American People

042af68a-3921-4efc-9617-fac0c32e179b-1

Connecticut

A fascinating portrait of the minds that have shaped the modern world. In an intriguing series of case studies, Rousseau, Shelley, Marx, Ibsen, Tolstoy, Hemingway, Bertrand Russell, Brecht, Sarte, Edmund Wilson, Victor Gollancz, Lillan Hellman, Cyril Connolly, Norman Mailer, James Baldwin, Kenneth Tyan, Noam Chomsky, and others are revealed as intellectuals both brilliant and contradictory, magnetic and dangerous.

Intellectuals

76ba0e9d-6081-4fe3-bd6c-a58e9c4206e3-1

Heavy Paperback (2 to 4 lbs)

New Jersey

"The creation of the United States of America is the greatest of all human adventures," begins Paul Johnson's remarkable new American history. "No other national story holds such tremendous lessons, for the American people themselves and for the rest of mankind." Johnson's history is a reinterpretation of American history from the first settlements to the Clinton administration. It covers every aspect of U.S. history--politics; business and economics; art, literature and science; society and customs; complex traditions and religious beliefs. The story is told in terms of the men and women who shaped and led the nation and the ordinary people who collectively created its unique character. Wherever possible, letters, diaries, and recorded conversations are used to ensure a sense of actuality. "The book has new and often trenchant things to say about every aspect and period of America's past," says Johnson, "and I do not seek, as some historians do, to conceal my opinions." Johnson's history presents John Winthrop, Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson, Cotton Mather, Franklin, Tom Paine, Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Hamilton, and Madison from a fresh perspective. It emphasizes the role of religion in American history and how early America was linked to England's history and culture and includes incisive portraits of Andrew Jackson, Chief Justice Marshall, Clay, Lincoln, and Jefferson Davis. Johnson shows how Grover Cleveland and Teddy Roosevelt ushered in the age of big business and industry and how Woodrow Wilson revolutionized the government's role. He offers new views of Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover and of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal and his role as commander in chief during World War II. An examination of the unforeseen greatness of Harry Truman and reassessments of Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Reagan, and Bush follow. "Compulsively readable," said Foreign Affairs of Johnson's unique narrative skills and sharp profiles of people. This is an in-depth portrait of a great people, from their fragile origins through their struggles for independence and nationhood, their heroic efforts and sacrifices to deal with the `organic sin' of slavery and the preservation of the Union to its explosive economic growth and emergence as a world power and its sole superpower. Johnson discusses such contemporary topics as the politics of racism, education, Vietnam, the power of the press, political correctness, the growth of litigation, and the rising influence of women. He sees Americans as a problem-solving people and the story of America as "essentially one of difficulties being overcome by intelligence and skill, by faith and strength of purpose, by courage and persistence...Looking back on its past, and forward to its future, the auguries are that it will not disappoint humanity." This challenging narrative and interpretation of American history by the author of many distinguished historical works is sometimes controversial and always provocative. Johnson's views of individuals, events, themes, and issues are original, critical, and admiring, for he is, above all, a strong believer in the history and the destiny of the American people.

California

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

Massachusetts

A Personal Pilgrimage

In this probing, challenging and personal account of his own faith and feelings about God and religion, Paul Johnson explores the evidence for God's existence; the nature and gender of God; the problem of evil; beauty, art and God; our responsibilities toward animals and the environment; the importance of authority, ceremony and liturgy; the Christian church and other faiths; changing attitudes toward death; the Day of Judgment; the existence of Hell; and the uses of prayer.

The Quest for God

d1392bb3-33e2-4c43-8c27-fc3ed6e4f7c6-0

A leading historian and best selling author recreates 3,000 years of Egyptian civilization with an authoritative text splendidly illustrated with 150 illustrations in full color. 

Missouri

A leading historian and bestselling author re-creates the growth, decline, and legacy of 3,000 Years of Egyptian civilization with an authoritative text splendidly illustrated with 150 illustrations in full color. Ancient Egypt, with its legacy of pyramids, pharaohs and sphinxes, is a land of power and mystery to the modern world. In The Civilization of Ancient Egypt Paul Johnson explores the growth and decline of a culture that survived for 3,000 years and maintained a purity of style that rivals all others. Johnson's study looks in detail at the state, religion, culture and geographical setting and how they combined in this unusually enduring civilization. From the beginning of Egyptian culture to the rediscovery of the pharaohs, the book covers the totalitarian theocracy, the empire of the Nile, the structure of dynastic Egypt, the dynastic way of death, hieroglyphs, the anatomy of perspective art and, finally, the decline and fall of the pharaohs, Johnson seeks, through an exciting combination of images and analysis, to discover the causes behind the collapse of this, great civilization while celebrating the extra-ordinary legacy it has left behind. Paul Johnson on Ancient Egypt and the Egyptians "Egypt was not only the first state, it was the first country.... The durability of the state which thus evolved was ensured by the overwhelming simplicity and power of its central institution, the theocratic monarchy." "The Egyptians did not share the Babylonian passion for astrology, but they used the stars as one of many guides to behavior. No Egyptian believed in a free exercise of will in important decisions: he always looked for an omen or a prophecy or an oracle." "The development of hieroglyphics mirrors and epitomizes the history of Egyptian civilization. . . . No one outside Egypt understood it and even within Egypt it was the exclusive working tool of the ruling and priestly classes. The great mass of Egyptians were condemned to illiteracy by the complexities (and also the beauties) of the Egyptian written language." "The affection the Egyptians were not. ashamed to display towards their children was related to the high status women enjoyed in Egyptian society." "If we can understand Egyptian art we can go a long way towards grasping the very spirit and outlook on life, of this gifted people, so remote in time. The dynamic of their civilization seems to have been a passionate love of order (maat to them), by which they sought to give to human activities and creations the same regularity as their landscape, their great river, their sun-cycle and their immutable seasons."

The Civilization of Ancient Egypt

e3c1efa9-63e0-4734-b659-084aa414101d-1

Pennsylvania

A Concise History from the Twelfth Century to the Present Day

Drawing from a wealth of historical and scholarly sources, Johnson traces the important social, religious and political development of Ireland's struggle to become a unified, settled country. Johnson describes with accurate detail Ireland's barbarous beginnings, Oliver Cromwell's religious "crusade," the tragic Irish potato famine, the Ulster resistance and the outstanding fact of the constant British-Irish connection and the fearful toll of life it exacted. Among the anonymous multitude are famous names such as "Silken Thom" Kildare, Thomas Wentworth, Archbishop Plunkett and Lord Frederick Cavendish. And yet many great men marshaled their energies and wits to settle Ireland: Sir Henry Sidney, Sire Walter Raleigh, Edmund Spenser, Churchill and others.

Ireland (2nd Printing, 1992)

8046dc7e-a1c5-482e-b5f9-cb247c5f471f-1

North Carolina

From Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar to Churchill and de Gaulle

A galaxy of legendary figures from the annals of Western history In this enlightening and entertaining work, Paul Johnson, the bestselling author of Intellectuals and Creators, approaches the subject of heroism with stirring examples of men and women from every age, walk of life, and corner of the planet who have inspired and transformed not only their own cultures but the entire world as well. Heroes includes: Samson, Judith, and Deborah • Henry V and Joan of Arc • Elizabeth I and Walter Raleigh • George Washington, the Duke of Wellington, and Lord Nelson • Emily Dickinson • Abraham Lincoln and Robert E. Lee • Mae West and Marilyn Monroe • Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, and Pope John Paul II

Heroes

e991a886-aac0-435d-bed1-8c81b9caa9a2-1

Paul Johnson's book "Intellectuals" is a series of case studies examining the lives and thoughts of prominent Western thinkers. It includes figures like Rousseau, Shelley, Marx, Ibsen, Tolstoy, and others, revealing them as intellectuals who are both brilliant and contradictory, magnetic and dangerous. Johnson argues that these intellectuals often claim to possess the moral authority to transform society, a role he disputes. The book was published on March 3, 2001.

Colorado

A fascinating portrait of the minds that have shaped the modern world. In an intriguing series of case studies, Rousseau, Shelley, Marx, Ibsen, Tolstoy, Hemingway, Bertrand Russell, Brecht, Sartre, Edmund Wilson, Victor Gollancz, Lillian Hellman, Cyril Connolly, Norman Mailer, James Baldwin, Kenneth Tynan, and Noam Chomsky, among others, are revealed as intellectuals both brilliant and contradictory, magnetic and dangerous.

First 50 pages and cover our crinkly. It appears they may have gotten wet in the past.

Economic, Social and Cultural Change

Social conditions and expectations have significantly improved for the majority of British citizens since 1900; similarly, economic performance today compares favourably with our past (though less so with our European competitors). Yet we are burdened with a sense of failure and uncertainty, convinced that society has become more violent and less cohesive, that the economic situation has deteriorated, and that the quality of national life is in decline. What justification is there for this pervasive view? An impressive team of contributors (assembled in association with the Economic History Society) examines the historical record to provide objective answers in this vigorous and searching introduction - designed for students, teachers and general readers - to the economic, social and cultural development of Britain this century.

Twentieth-Century Britain

ff97d8c8-1a35-4225-b668-6caadad16c08-1

Paperback (1 to 2 lbs)

Texas

Retail sticker on back cover. Published 1985

New Mexico

The Work from the Twenties to the Eighties

Modern Times

37405432-0296-4834-8604-a8aab51aef35-1

District of Columbia

Some bending in cover and highlighting inside

West Virginia

The World From the Twenties to the Nineties

Originally published in 1983 and named one of the Best Books of the Year by The New York Times, this bestselling history is now revised and updated and includes a new final chapter. A far-reaching and masterful work, it explores the events, ideas, and personalities of the seven decades since the First World War.

With masterly eloquence, a bestselling historian offers a searching portrait of a man who shaped history and cast his shadow over two centuries.

Browse by categories

Save this search

Paul Johnson

The Renaissance

Paul Johnson

George Washington

Paul Johnson

Jesus

Paul Johnson

Darwin

Paul Johnson

Socrates

Paul Johnson

Socrates

Paul Johnson

A History of the American People

Paul Johnson

Intellectuals

Paul Johnson

Darwin

Paul Johnson

A History of the American People

Paul Johnson

Socrates

Paul Johnson

The Quest for God

Paul Johnson

The Civilization of Ancient Egypt

Paul Johnson

Ireland (2nd Printing, 1992)

Paul Johnson

Heroes

Paul Johnson

Intellectuals

Paul Johnson

Twentieth-Century Britain

Paul Johnson

George Washington

Paul Johnson

A History of the American People

Paul Johnson

Modern Times

Paul Johnson

Socrates

Paul Johnson

A History of the American People

Paul Johnson

Modern Times

Paul Johnson

Napoleon