Pagden demonstrates the breadth and depth of his knowledge and his impeccable research of the period we refer to as the Enlightenment A book that should be on every thinking person's shelf-the perfect primer for anyone interested in the development of Western civilization. * Kirkus Reviews * Anthony Pagden defends the Enlightenment as a cosmopolitan project with classical roots and contemporary relevance. Like Kant, he argues that we live in an age of enlightenment, ongoing but incomplete, but that someday we will experience a fully enlightened age. His lucid and learned book might help to realize that hope. * David Armitage, author of Foundations of Modern International Thought * Reading Anthony Pagden's The Enlightenment: And Why It Still Matters is an enlightenment in itself. The larger-than-life thinkers and talkers of eighteenth-century Europe have been blamed for everything from taking the magic out of life to making Auschwitz possible, but here, in sparkling style, Pagden shows us not only how their ideas made mankind modern but also what our world might have been like without them. Everyone interested in where the West came from should read this book. * Ian Morris, author of Why the West Rules-For Now * The Enlightenment really does still matter, and with a combination of gripping storytelling about colourful characters and lucid explanation of profound ideas, Anthony Pagden shows why. * Steven Pinker, author of The Better Angels of Our Nature and The Blank Slate * A sensationally good piece of cultural and intellectual history reminds us how the 'Western' view of the world came into existence and why it's worth defending. It does still matter * Oxford Today * Written with exemplary clarity, [this book] exposes the classical roots of the critical attack on religious traditions, and explores new discourses around a scientific study of humanity...While Pagden pauses to consider the dark side of Enlightenment ideas, the power of the book lies in its lucid exposition of optimistic thinking, from Condorcet's conceptual history to Hume's brutal attack on organised religion as "sick men's dreams". If one wanted a handbook of optimism, Pagden's work would be a set text. * BBC History Magazine * With religion resurgent across the world - complaining of oppression at every turn - the Enlightenment project, never completed, is at risk again. As this eloquent and thrilling book makes clear, its enemies might care to explain why it happened in the first place. * Ian Bell, The Glasgow Herald * The Enlightenment is a spirited and engaging polemic directed against the recourse to fundamentalism in modern history. * Richard Bourke, Literary Review * Pagden writes beautifully and has a wonderful eye for apt quotations, many of which eloquently capture the spirit of the Enlightenment literati. * History Today * The grand architecture of [Pagden's] argument is finely ornamented with nuance and qualification. * Colin Kidd, London Review of Books * [E]legant and wide-ranging. * Jonathan Israel, TLS * Both Pagden's retelling of the Enlightenment story, and his defence of cosmopolitanism, are cogent and important. * The Independent * Book of the Week * The Sunday Telegraph * Learned eloquent and at times passionate. * Keith Thomas, New York Review of Books * Deftly revealing how bold thinkers chucked out the lumber of millennia, Pagden throws up contemporary resonances on page after page. * Independent (Radar Magazine) * deep and thought-provoking argument for how the enlightenment still affects modern social and political thought. There is so much information packed into in these pages, yet its well-organised, meticulously referenced and presented so masterfully that the book is a pleasure to read. I think those who enjoy reading about philosophy and history will enjoy this book, as will those who seek to gain a deeper understanding the philosophical, political, and social development and dominance of the modern Western World. * Guardian, GrrlScientist *

Anthony Pagden has published widely on both Spanish and European history and has worked as a translator and as a publisher in addition to his many academic posts. He taught at the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Harvard before a professorship at Johns Hopkins University, and he is currently Distinguished Professor of Political Science and History at the University of California, Los Angeles. His most recent book prior to this one, Worlds at War: The 2,500 Year Struggle Between East and West, was also published by Oxford University Press.

Introduction: What is Enlightenment? ; 1. All Coherence Gone ; 2. Bringing Pity Back In ; 3. The Fatherless World ; 4. The Science of Man ; 5. Discovering Man in Nature ; 6. The Defence of Civilization ; 7. The Great Society of Mankind ; 8. The Vast Commonwealth of Nature ; Conclusion: Enlightenment and its Enemies ; Notes ; Bibliography ; Index