Philipp Blom has proven himself a fine writer of intellectual histories that are learned without sacrificing broad appeal to general readers. I previously enjoyed The Vertigo Years and his current A Wicked Company impresses me further.
Here he focuses on a group of intellectuals with connections to the Paris salon of Baron Paul Henri Thiry d'Holbach during the 1750-1780 period. Denis Diderot is the chief protagonist, but Holbach himself, David Hume (who attended the salon during a stay in France, though not a "radical"), and Jean-Jacques Rousseau (a salon drop-out), among others, also receive considerable attention. Blom substantively covers many of their ideas, relates biographical highlights, and conveys the flavor of their personalities, ambitions, and abilities. It all meshes into a sustained narrative.
The author believes that the reputation of the Enlightenment "radicals" (Diderot especially, but also Holbach and a few others) has suffered in comparison to more moderate figures (Voltaire and Kant, notably) and to Rousseau. The falling out of Rousseau with Diderot and Hume is one of the principal sub-plots of this volume.
Blom portrays an atheistic and sensualist Diderot, inclinations that were necessarily toned down in his public writing (he had once been imprisoned for his views). He was ahead of his time in several respects, with materialist and evolutionary ideas that anticipated Darwin, a nuanced appreciation of the irrational elements of human nature, and opposition to slavery, for example. Unlike Holbach, who believed that truth was knowable based on observation and that reason could eliminate superstition and bring about a just society, Diderot remained more skeptical.
Blom credits the radical philosophes with several achievements. The successful publication of the imposing Encyclopédie, edited by Diderot and Jean Le Rond d'Alembert (until he resigned), "...stands as a defining moment in the intellectual history of Europe, a point at which skeptical reason won over orthodoxy, and an important inspiration to the next generation, the generation of the Revolution," Blom writes. The radicals' influence shows up in America in the "pursuit of happiness" notion at the center of the Declaration of Independence, "straight from Holbach's table," the author claims. In a suggestive "Epilogue" he sees later influences on Goethe (who admired Diderot, but not Holbach), Heine, Shelley, Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud (though these are covered collectively in less than a page).
A few aspects of A Wicked Company disappointed me. For instance, there is not much on the political thought of the radicals, perhaps because they were thin in that domain themselves. Blom does offer astute observations on the political ideas of the anti-philosophe Rousseau, however.
The bibliography and notes are quite skimpy, which is a problem because there is an extensive secondary literature on much of what is covered here and the absence of references makes it difficult to sort out which interpretations are original and which are derivative. Several of Jonathan Israel's views, for example, seem reflected in those of Blom, but other than a mention of one of Israel's works in the "very selective" bibliography and one "quoted in" note there are no explicit acknowledgements. Perhaps the publisher wished not to scare away non-academic readers, but that seems a mistaken under-estimation of the curiosities of the potential audience.
Mild disappointments like these aside, A Wicked Company is a book I would recommend to almost anyone interested in intellectual history or European history generally. It would be an especially good selection for any book clubs with such interests, possibly best discussed in a salon setting over a lavish four-course meal with appropriate wines (see pages 57-59 for the menu).
