The Noble Savage: Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1754-1762 [Paperback]

Maurice Cranston (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0226118649 | ISBN-13: 978-0226118642 | Publication Date: May 1, 1999

In this second volume of the unparalleled exposition of Rousseau's life and works, Cranston completes and corrects the story told in Rousseau's Confessions, and offers a vivid, entirely new history of his most eventful and productive years.

"Luckily for us, Maurice Cranston's The Noble Savage: Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1754-1762 has managed to craft a highly detailed account of eight key years of Rousseau's life in such a way that we can both understand and even, on occasion, sympathize."—Olivier Bernier, Wall Street Journal

Maurice Cranston (1920-1993), a distinguished scholar and recipient of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his biography of John Locke, was professor of political science at the London School of Economics. His numerous books include The Romantic Movement and Philosophers and Pamphleteers, and translations of Rousseau's The Social Contract and Discourse on the Origins of Inequality.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Rousseau's life is shot through with ironies. The Reformed Calvinist true-believer who illiberally condemned the theater would later find his own Emile subject to censorship and public burning. The moralist who preached control of women's sexuality was consumed with lust for Mme. d'Houdetot, wife of a Norman count and mother of three children. In his Confessions Rousseau painted himself as a genial rustic, happy to escape the corrupt metropolis of Paris, but the itinerant philosopher we meet in this magisterial, scintillating biography grows increasingly irritable, suspicious and peevish in his dilapidated cottage in Montmorency. This second installment in a three-volume opus, following Jean-Jacques , offers a fresh look at Rousseau's life in the years when he wrote The Social Contract and Emile , refined his romantic creed of the "natural man" and got himself banished from Geneva. Illustrations.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

This is the second of three planned volumes on the life and work of Rousseau, continuing the biography that began with the publication of Jean-Jacques: The Early Life and Work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau ( LJ 5/15/83). This volume focuses on Rousseau's most productive and eventful years, which included a torrid love affair; bitter, friendship-ending quarrels with Voltaire, Diderot, and other Enlightenment philosophers; and the publication of some of his most important works, including Emile and The Social Contract . Utilizing original manuscript sources wherever possible, Cranston has produced a richly detailed yet highly readable synthesis of philosophy, biography, and intellectual history. The completed trilogy is sure to become the standard resource on Rousseau in English, making this a valuable addition to most libraries.
- Raymond Frey, Centenary Coll., Hackettstown, N.J.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 413 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (May 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226118649
• ISBN-13: 978-0226118642
• Product Dimensions: 14.1 x 1.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,881,426 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)