Germaine de Stael: A Political Portrait

Description

Germaine de Stael (1766-1817) is perhaps best known today as a novelist, literary critic, and outspoken and independent thinker. Yet she was also a prominent figure in politics during the French Revolution. Biancamaria Fontana sheds new light on this often overlooked aspect of Stael's life and work, bringing vividly to life her unique experience as

Biancamaria Fontana is professor of the history of political ideas at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. Her books include Montaigne's Politics (Princeton), Benjamin Constant and the Post-Revolutionary Mind, and Rethinking the Politics of Commercial Society.

"[An] admirable study of Stael as a political thinker."--Robert Darnton, New York Review of Books "This austere and serious study provides a fine, straightforward, anti-sensational discussion of political writings in which Stael appears as far more than the usually depicted adjunct of famous men."--Janet Todd, Times Literary Supplement "This meticulously researched book provides an excellent examination of de Stael's thoughts and leanings... This volume will attract academic readers interested in political theory and French revolutionary history."--Erica Swenson Danowitz, Library Journal "[Fontana] outlines the progression of Stael's ideas with considerable scholarship."--Lucy Moore, Literary Review "[An] excellent survey."--Angelica Goodden, Standpoint "I wish I could meet brilliant Madame de Stael, the woman bold enough to stand up to Napoleon Bonaparte and brave enough to keep going back to revolutionary Paris, but Biancamaria Fontana's intriguing new book, Germaine de Stael: A Political Portrait ... will have to do."--Elizabeth Cobbs, Times Higher Education "[Germaine de Stael] makes for compelling reading in our current moment. And under any circumstances, Biancamaria Fontana's lively and learned new book is a long-overdue testimony to the enduring political significance of Germaine de Stael as a founding figure of the French liberal tradition."--Carla Hesse, Times Higher Education "[A] distinguishing facet of this title is its exquisite writing; the organization, clarity, and energy of Fantana's research are thoroughly commendable, as is the brief concluding chapter, which connects Stael to the 21st century."--Choice "An absorbing, elegant study."--Frederick Brown, Hudson Review