The Economist

An inspiring history of the Enlightenment

The Enlightenment. By Ritchie Robertson.Allen Lane; 1,008 pages; £40. To be published in America by Harper in February; $45. IN SEPTEMBER THE University of Edinburgh expunged the name of David Hume ...
Smithsonian Magazine

These 18th-Century Shoes Underscore the Contradictions of the Age of Enlightenment

“The Great Divide” explores how ideas that came to the fore during the Enlightenment at once blurred social hierarchies and reinforced them, particularly along ...
Wall Street Journal

‘The Enlightenment That Failed’ Review: Downfall of the Radicals

The Enlightenment provides a touchstone for our understanding of modern history and, not least, for our sense of the current moment. More than two centuries ago, a shift in outlook sought to throw off ...
The Conversation

Criticism of Western Civilisation isn’t new, it was part of the Enlightenment

Jean-Baptiste Belley, Deputy of Saint-Domingue and French National Convention member (1793-97) with a bust of Abbé Raynal. The duelling sides in today’s cultural wars about “Western civilization” are ...