The Enlightenment
£7.26
Enlightening (sic) - I picked up this book as someone in search of a broad introduction to the Enlightenment rather than as an expert and it served that purpose very well. Lucidly written it outlines the chronology, the themes and the characters which together made the 18th century so significant. Hampson is an entertaining as well as educative writer and, it would seem to me at least, chose to give more time to individuals that he found interesting than their contribution might strictly have made appropriate. I especially liked his inclusion of the bloodthirsty De Maistre, who he describes as having a religion more Aztec than Christian . I dare say that there have been more recent overviews of the Enlightement written, but this is definitely worth reading. Apart from its scholarly merit some of the author s insights are uncannily prescient - don t forget they were made in the 1960s - and all the more fascinating for that.