The World in 1800

French historian Bernier (Words of Fire, Deeds of Blood) surveys the globe at the turn of the 19th century and finds there the key to modern culture and politics. He writes (less than convincingly), ""1800 is the beginning of our own era."" He argues that the palaces and performance halls, salons and Senate chambers, colleges and churches of 1800 were home to great transformations that not only shaped the 19th century but the 20th as well. In China, a soaring population, an expanding economy and a revival of popular religion were all posing problems; the British Empire was taking root in India; the American government was just starting to flex its muscles. But for Bernier, the event with the widest-reaching consequences was the French Revolution; it told kings and queens across the world that the era of monarchical authority was over. At the same time, European culture, politics, art and design influenced cultural production and political change around the globe. Continental furniture and architecture were mimicked in Asia and the Americas, and citizens in Delaware and Dresden coveted Parisian cuisine. In contrast, Bernier's four chapters on North America do little more than rehearse familiar political stories about the XYZ Affair and the debate over federalism, and his 20-page treatment of Africa is even skimpier. As a result, although filled with good detail, the book hardly earns its title; Bernier is far more interested in 1789 (when the French Revolution heated up) and the years between 1760 and 1795 (when his cultural hero, Haydn, produced his greatest works) than in the events of 1800 itself. B&w illustrations. (Mar.)