The Secular Enlightenment

Description

A major new history of how the Enlightenment transformed people's everyday lives The Secular Enlightenment is a panoramic account of the radical ways that life began to change for ordinary people in the age of Locke, Voltaire, and Rousseau. In this landmark book, familiar Enlightenment figures share places with voices that have remained largely

Margaret C. Jacob is Distinguished Professor of History at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her many books include The Radical Enlightenment: Pantheists, Freemasons, and Republicans and The First Knowledge Economy: Human Capital and the European Economy, 1750-1850. She lives in Los Angeles.

"A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year" "[A] lively and engaging book. . . . [The Secular Enlightenment] is a refreshingly straightforward defence and even celebration of the Enlightenment and its secular values."---Helena Rosenblatt, Literary Review "The book is an engaging and highly readable tour de force which deserves the widest circulation."---David Lorimer, Paradigm Explorer "Jacob is a titan in the modern historiography of the Enlightenment and . . . [The Secular Enlightenment] is simultaneously the culmination of half a century of pioneering research, a measured introduction to the subject for first-time readers, and a pugnacious call to arms."---Sophus A. Reinert, Journal of Modern History "[A] deeply researched and highly readable book."---Michael Levin, European Legacy