William Godwin: Philosopher, Novelist, Revolutionary

Description

William Godwin has long been known for his literary connections as the husband of Mary Wollstonecraft, the father of Mary Shelley, the friend of Coleridge, Lamb, and Hazlitt, the mentor of the young Wordsworth, Southey, and Shelley, and the opponent of Malthus. Godwin has been recently recognized, however, as the most capable exponent of philosophical anarchism, an original moral thinker, a pioneer in socialist economics and progressive education, and a novelist of great skill. His long life straddled two centuries. Not only did he live at the center of radical and intellectual London during the French Revolution, he also commented on some of the most significant changes in British history. Shaped by the Enlightenment, he became a key figure in English Romanticism. Basing his work on extensive published and unpublished materials, Peter Marshall has written a comprehensive study of this flamboyant and fascinating figure. Marshall places Godwin firmly in his social, political, and historical context; he traces chronologically the origin and development of Godwin's ideas and themes; and he offers a critical estimate of his works, recognizing the equal value of his philosophy and literature and their mutual illumination. The picture of Godwin that emerges is one of a complex man and a subtle and revolutionary thinker, one whose influence was far greater than is usually assumed. In the final analysis, Godwin stands forth not only as a rare example of a man who excelled in both philosophy and literature but as one of the great humanists in the Western tradition.

John Clark is an eco-communitarian anarchist theorist and activist. He lives and works in New Orleans. He is the author or editor of a dozen books, most recently The Impossible Community: Realizing Communitarian Anarchism. Peter Marshall is a historian, philosopher, travel writer, and poet. He has written or edited sixteen books, which have been translated into as many different languages.

"The most comprehensive and richly detailed work yet to appear on Godwin as thinker, writer, and person." --John P. Clark, The Tragedy of Common Sense "An ambitious study that offers a thorough exploration of Godwin's life and complex times." --Library Journal "Marshall steers his course... with unfailing sensitivity and skill. It is hard to see how the task could have been better done." --Michael Foot, The Observer "It brings back a thinker who was at once visionary and confident, and who had the good fortune to write when utopian ideas did not seem utopian." --David Bromwich, New York Times "An absorbing biography... presenting a sympathetic portrait of a principled, embattled humanist. Peter Marshall describes these voluminous and multifaceted writings discerningly." --M.B. Freidman, Choice