Enlightenment and Empire: Power, Privilege and Paradox in the Long Eighteenth Century
Peter Watson
Jul 2027 · Bloomsbury GB Audio
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About this audiobook
Reflecting on the Enlightenment, Henry Steele Commager began The Empire of Reason by noting the paradox of societies that “preached liberty and practiced slavery.” The movement differed across Europe and America and unfolded amid war, slavery, and empire. Any modern history of the Enlightenment must confront this tension.
A radical rethinking of the Enlightenment, this book reveals how the age of reason coexisted with empire, slavery and deep inequality. While Enlightenment ideals promised liberty and progress, they were largely confined to a narrow elite and often undermined by the very thinkers who promoted them. The modern world, this book argues, was forged not by Enlightenment alone but through its profound contradictions.
A radical rethinking of the Enlightenment, this book reveals how the age of reason coexisted with empire, slavery and deep inequality. While Enlightenment ideals promised liberty and progress, they were largely confined to a narrow elite and often undermined by the very thinkers who promoted them. The modern world, this book argues, was forged not by Enlightenment alone but through its profound contradictions.
Reflecting on the Enlightenment, Henry Steele Commager began The Empire of Reason by noting the paradox of societies that “preached liberty and practiced slavery.” The movement differed across Europe and America and unfolded amid war, slavery, and empire. Any modern history of the Enlightenment m...
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About the author
Peter Watson is an internationally acclaimed historian and cultural commentator. A former investigative journalist with the Sunday Times and New Society, he has also written for the Times and the Observer. His previous works include the bestselling The German Genius, a landmark history of intellectual and cultural life.
Peter Watson is an internationally acclaimed historian and cultural commentator. A former investigative journalist with the Sunday Times and New Society, he has also written for the Times and the Observer. His previous works include the bestselling The German Genius, a landmark history of intelle...
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