Enlightenment Volume 1

Peter Gay

Jun 2013 · Enlightenment: An Interpretation Book 1 · Sold by Knopf

About this ebook

The eighteenth century Enlightenment marks the beginning of the modern age when the scientific method and belief in reason and progress came to hold sway over the Western world. In the twentieth century, however, the Enlightenment has often been judged harshly for its apparently simplistic optimism. Here a master historian goes back to the sources to give us both a more sophisticated and intriguing view of the philosophes, their world and their ideas.

About the author

PETER GAY was Sterling Professor of History, Emeritus, at Yale University, author of thirty-two widely respected books, and winner of the National Book Award for his definitive work on the Enlightenment. He died in 2015.