The Age of Reason Begins: A History of European Civilization in the Period of Shakespeare, Bacon, Montaigne, Rembrandt, Galileo, and Descartes: 1558–1648: Audiobook
Book 7 of the Story of Civilization series
According to The Books Insider's catalog data, The Age of Reason Begins: A History of European Civilization in the Period of Shakespeare, Bacon, Montaigne, Rembrandt, Galileo, and Descartes: 1558–1648 runs 34.9 hours as an unabridged audiobook, narrated by Grover Gardner (about 23.3 hours at 1.5× playback speed).
The instrument When will you finish it?
Based on 34.9 hours of listening.
| Your pace | You'll finish in |
|---|---|
| 30 min / day | 70 days |
| 1 hour / day | 35 days |
| 2 hours / day | 18 days |
| 1 hour / day at 1.5× | 24 days |
You'll finish in – by –
Part of The Audiobook Finish-Time Calculator: the same instrument for any audiobook we measure.
What our data says
- At 34.9 hours, it runs longer than 99% of the 3,859 World audiobooks in our catalog.
Catching up on The Story of Civilization
This is book 7. Books 1 to 6 run 268.5 hours before it; books 1 to 7 run 303.4 hours in all.
| Book | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Our Oriental Heritage | 50.3 hrs |
| 2 | The Life of Greece: A History of Greek Civilization from the Beginnings, and of Civilization in the Near East from the Death of Alexander, to the Roman Conquest | 32.6 hrs |
| 3 | Caesar and Christ: A History of Roman Civilization and of Christianity from Their Beginnings to AD 325 | 36.6 hrs |
| 4 | The Age of Faith: A History of Medieval Civilization (Christian, Islamic, and Judaic) from Constantine to Dante, AD 325–1300 | 61.6 hrs |
| 5 | The Renaissance: A History of Civilization in Italy from 1304–1576 AD | 37.3 hrs |
| 6 | The Reformation: A History of European Civilization from Wycliffe to Calvin, 1300–1564 | 50.1 hrs |
| 7 | The Age of Reason Begins: A History of European Civilization in the Period of Shakespeare, Bacon, Montaigne, Rembrandt, Galileo, and Descartes: 1558–1648 | 34.9 hrs |
More narrated by Grover Gardner
Grover Gardner narrates 257 unabridged audiobooks in our catalog, 2,804 hours in all.
About as long, on the World shelf
22 World audiobooks in our catalog run within 10% of this length. The most popular on the store:
Computed from 170,512 English-language unabridged audiobooks in The Books Insider catalog (store data read October 21, 2026). Lengths are the store's own running times. Methodology.
About this listen
The Age of Reason Begins: A History of European Civilization in the Period of Shakespeare, Bacon, Montaigne, Rembrandt, Galileo, and Descartes: 1558–1648 is book 7 of Ariel Durant's Story of Civilization series: a 34.9-hour unabridged recording, read by Grover Gardner, released January 27, 2015, on the World shelf.
The listen at a glance
- Length
- 34.9 hrs
- Narrated by
- Grover Gardner
- Released
- January 27, 2015
- Format
- Unabridged audiobook
- Language
- English
- Store shelves
- World
- Series
- The Story of Civilization #7
- ISBN
- 9781483046327
How to listen to The Age of Reason Begins: A History of European Civilization in the Period of Shakespeare, Bacon, Montaigne, Rembrandt, Galileo, and Descartes: 1558–1648 free
New members at audiobooks.com get three free audiobooks with the trial.
Separately, the store's catalog carries more than 10,000 audiobooks that are always free to stream.
Start listening freeQuestions listeners ask
How long is The Age of Reason Begins: A History of European Civilization in the Period of Shakespeare, Bacon, Montaigne, Rembrandt, Galileo, and Descartes: 1558–1648 as an audiobook?
The Age of Reason Begins: A History of European Civilization in the Period of Shakespeare, Bacon, Montaigne, Rembrandt, Galileo, and Descartes: 1558–1648 runs 34.9 hours unabridged. At 1.5× speed that drops to roughly 23.3 hours.
Is The Age of Reason Begins: A History of European Civilization in the Period of Shakespeare, Bacon, Montaigne, Rembrandt, Galileo, and Descartes: 1558–1648 free as an audiobook?
Yes, for new listeners: the trial starts you with three free audiobooks.
Who narrates The Age of Reason Begins: A History of European Civilization in the Period of Shakespeare, Bacon, Montaigne, Rembrandt, Galileo, and Descartes: 1558–1648?
The Age of Reason Begins: A History of European Civilization in the Period of Shakespeare, Bacon, Montaigne, Rembrandt, Galileo, and Descartes: 1558–1648 is narrated by Grover Gardner.
Is The Age of Reason Begins: A History of European Civilization in the Period of Shakespeare, Bacon, Montaigne, Rembrandt, Galileo, and Descartes: 1558–1648 worth listening to at 1.5× speed?
At 1.5× you'd finish in about 23.3 hours, saving 11.6 hours.