An edition of The Vital Spark (1959)

The Vital Spark

101 Outstanding Lives

My Reading Lists:

Create a new list

Check-In

×Close
Add an optional check-in date. Check-in dates are used to track yearly reading goals.
Today


Buy this book

Last edited by mountainaxe1
May 22, 2019 | History
An edition of The Vital Spark (1959)

The Vital Spark

101 Outstanding Lives

History is more shaped by Famous Men, than Famous Men by the course of History. Or so implies the biographer of Lawrence of Arabia and Count Luckner, long known for his admiration of men who think boldly and act accordingly. Here he examines the history of the West from Solomon to the present in the light of 101 famous lives. Each it seems had that ""vital spark"" of thought, ambition or decisive action which permanently altered the destinies of men. Nowhere in this series of vignettes however is this ""vital spark"" defined. Instead, in brief and succinct biographies, the lives speak for themselves as vital and disturbing forces working within a given period. Proceeding chronologically through such figures as Pericles, Charlemagne, Elizabeth I, Luther, Byron, Foch and ending with Churchill, we see them complement or clash with society, and often with each other. Almost every kind of person is included. Not all are virtuous: Tamerlaine shares equal honors with Joan of Arc. Not all are complex: the gentle Francis of Assisi is considered as important as, say, Richelieu. In some it is love of power, in others the simple love of fellow man, and in still others the tortures of psychopathic minds which drive them onward. And----through war, politics, exploration, art, and science----the world is drastically altered by each. The book is over-simplified in every sense, shallow in characterization, questionable as philosophy. Yet thanks to its range and facile style, its interesting focus on personality, it makes good reading for the wide audience this writer-explorer has enjoyed for so long.

Publish Date
Publisher
Doubleday
Language
English
Pages
416

Buy this book

Previews available in: English

Book Details


Edition Notes

Published in
Garden City, N.Y

The Physical Object

Format
Hardback
Pagination
416 p.
Number of pages
416

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL24371014M
Internet Archive
vitalspark101out00thom
OCLC/WorldCat
363921968
Amazon ID (ASIN)
B0007DX3RW

Source records

Internet Archive item record

Community Reviews (0)

Feedback?
No community reviews have been submitted for this work.

Lists

See All

History

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON / OPDS | Wikipedia citation
May 22, 2019 Edited by mountainaxe1 Edited without comment.
May 22, 2019 Edited by mountainaxe1 Added new cover
August 12, 2011 Edited by ImportBot add ia_box_id to scanned books
October 2, 2010 Edited by ImportBot Added new cover
October 2, 2010 Created by ImportBot Imported from Internet Archive item record