At the End of the Modern Age

John Lukacs, PhD, argues that we are at the end of the modern age that began with the Renaissance and that this period calls for a reconsideration of objectivity in history and science.
When Mar 08, 2011
from 06:00 PM to 07:00 PM
Where Chao Auditorium, Ekstrom Library, University of Louisville
Contact Name
Contact Phone 502-852-8811
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Continuing arguments from his earlier works such as At the End of an Age (Yale University Press, 2003), John Lukacs elaborates on his notion that we are at the end of the modern age that began with the Renaissance, and that this period calls for a reconsideration of the idea of objectivity in history and science — two disciplines that create rather than describe the world that they seek to understand.

The event will start at 6 p.m., March 8, in the University of Louisville's Chao Auditorium located in Ekstrom Library. A free reception and book signing will follow.

About the Lecturer

Over the past five decades, historian John Lukacs has written more than 30 books, including A History of the Cold War; Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat: The Dire Warning and The Hitler of History. He was a professor of history at Chestnut Hill College from 1947 to 1994 and the chair of the history department from 1947 to 1974. He has served as a visiting professor at Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University, Princeton University, La Salle University and the University of Budapest.

His vast literary work includes, among others:

  • The Great Powers and Eastern Europe (New York: American Book Co., 1953).
  • A History of the Cold War (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1961).
  • Decline and Rise of Europe: A Study in Recent History, With Particular Emphasis on the Development of a European Consciousness (Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, 1965).
  • A New History of the Cold War (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1966).
  • Historical Consciousness; or, The Remembered Past (New York: Harper & Row, 1968).
  • The Passing of the Modern Age (New York: Harper & Row, 1970).
  • A Sketch of the History of Chestnut Hill College, 1924–1974 (Chestnut Hill, PA: Chestnut Hill College, 1975).
  • The Last European War: September 1939–December 1941 (Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Press, 1976).
  • 1945: Year Zero (New York: Doubleday, 1978).
  • Philadelphia: Patricians and Philistines, 1900–1950 (New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1981).
  • Outgrowing Democracy: A History of the United States in the Twentieth century (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1984).
  • Budapest 1900: A Historical Portrait of a City and Its Culture (New York: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1988).
  • Confessions of an Original Sinner (New York: Ticknor and Fields, 1990).
  • The Duel: 10 May–31 July 1940: the Eighty-Day Struggle between Churchill and Hitler (New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1991).
  • The End of the Twentieth Century and the End of the Modern Age (New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1993).
  • Destinations Past: Traveling through History with John Lukacs (Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 1994).
  • The Hitler of History (New York: A. A. Knopf, 1997).
  • George F. Kennan and the Origins of Containment, 1944–1946: the Kennan-Lukacs Correspondence, Introduction by John Lukacs. (Columbia, Mo.: University of Missouri Press, 1997).
  • A Thread of Years (New Haven [Conn.]: Yale University Press, 1998).
  • Five Days in London, May 1940 (New Haven [Conn.]: Yale University Press, 1999).
  • A Student's Guide to the Study of History (Wilmington, DE: ISI Books, Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 2000).
  • Churchill: Visionary, Statesman, Historian (New Haven [Conn.]: Yale University Press, 2002).
  • At the End of an Age (New Haven [Conn.]: Yale University Press, 2003).
  • A New Republic: A History Of The United States In The Twentieth Century(New Haven [Conn.]: Yale University Press, 2004).
  • Democracy and Populism: Fear & Hatred (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005).
  • Remembered Past: John Lukacs On History, Historians & Historical Knowledge: A Reader (Wilmington, DE: ISI Books, Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 2005).
  • June 1941: Hitler and Stalin. (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2006).
  • George Kennan: A Study of Character. (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2007).
  • Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat: The Dire Warning. (New York: Basic Books, 2008).
  • Last Rites. (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2009).
  • The Legacy of the Second World War. (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2010).