This is a reprinting of Paul Hazard's classic 1960s intellectual history of Renaissance Europe between 1680 and 1715, a time when old political and intellectual foundations were beginning to crumble. Hazard's entry point for readers is the changing psychology associated with the decay of religious orthodoxy and the growing appeal of science. It takes the form of a war on tradition, the reconstruction of our relationship to the cosmos through empiricism and natural law, and the development of new aesthetics and metaphysics. In the end, Hazard concludes with an ode to Europe's unique landscape, intellectual and otherwise. It's a very lyrical narrative. Intellectual historian Anthony Grafton (history, Princeton U.) writes an introduction that contextualizes Hazard's work in the milieu of mid-20th-century French intellectual history-writing. Annotation 2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
