Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The Enlightenment is that crucial, and profoundly exciting, period between the late seventeenth century and the French Revolution. It was the great age of rationalism and tolerance, an age of boundless curiosity about the physical universe and the nature of the human mind, an age that rejected superstition in favor of observation and experiment to arrive at the truth--an age, in fact, that laid the foundations for the world in which we live. With nearly four hundred illustrations selected from a wide array of sources, the book tells the fascinating story of the men and women of the Enlightenment in their search for definition and redefinition of the values of their time. Included are the range of ideas they explored--from coffee-house conversations to astronomy, from voyages of discovery to the investigation of dreams, from the first dictionaries and encyclopedias to new attitudes on marriage and women's rights. Theirs was an enthralling journey that reflected the intellectual revolution that transformed human consciousness.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

This is more than a lavishly illustrated coffee-table book, although it certainly meets the criteria for such. Its nearly 400 illustrations document Outram's (history, Univ. of Rochester; The Body and the French Revolution) original analysis of the profound paradigm shift that took place in the Atlantic world in the 1700s. According to Outram, in the 18th century, critical thinking led to ideas that reached deep into the fabric of European society via encyclopedias, journals, books, salons, academies, and even coffeehouses. From child rearing to architecture, a belief in reaching one's true potential through reason prevailed. Outram is careful to point out that the Enlightenment did not generate a monolithic ideology; instead, there were cross currents and conflicting ideas that sprang from an increasingly uninhibited intellectual environment. Yet Outram agrees with philosopher Immanuel Kant's conclusion that, regardless of differences, the Enlightenment mandated that humans "Dare to know! Have the courage to understand." And that is the true legacy of this dynamic era. Even libraries owning Martin Fitzpatrick's elegant The Enlightenment World should purchase this unique work. Recommended for both public and academic libraries.-Jim Doyle, Sara Hightower Regional Lib., Rome, GA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

This gorgeous book, richly illustrated with hundreds of images, portrays the Enlightenment's optimistic self-examination in an erudite and thoroughly readable style. Outram (Univ. of Rochester) describes the Enlightenment as multilayered and expansive, explaining that efforts to define and comprehend man's relationship to nature influenced people of all ranks. The proliferation of books, newspapers, and other printed material spread ideas at an unparalleled rate, making individual reading one of the Enlightenment's hallmarks. Outram emphasizes, however, that little of the information disseminated during the period provided a consistent whole. Contradictions were commonplace. Enlightened monarchs such as Frederick the Great demonstrated their own ambivalence about the ideals of the period, curtailing ostentatious court ritual while simultaneously spending vast amounts of money to build fabulous palaces as symbols of their roles, thus combining enlightenment and absolutism into a hybrid. The ideas of the philosophes created other contradictions as well. Outram argues that the world first became truly global in the modern sense during this era, though one of the most powerful factors in this globalization was the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All public, general, and undergraduate collections. E. J. Jenkins Arkansas Tech University

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Dorinda Outram is Franklin I. Clark Professor of History at the University of Rochester, New York. Among her publications are The Enlightenment (revised edition, 2005) and The Body and the French Revolution (1989).