Its title notwithstanding, The Quiet Before crackles with noise: Chartist orators whipping up support for suffrage... Futurist manifesto-shouters...white supremacists chanting.

Like other works on the 'smart thinking' shelf that swing between cultural history and how-to manual, The Quiet Before scavenges past events and present trends on a pattern-seeking quest.

Beckerman’s wide range is impressive and makes The Quiet Before the most original book I’ve read in a long time.

The book’s preliminary pages and dust jacket are replete with zealous endorsements from literary VIPs.

... a quirky, delightful mix of a book that explores the intellectual impulses behind a series of cultural shifts and political revolts occurring across continents and centuries.

... excellent.

... engaging.

... wide-ranging, subtly ambitious.

Anyone who wants to change the world should start by reading this thought-provoking book..

[A] probing intellectual history.

Engaging.