Author:Jean-Jacques Rousseau,Peter Constantine,Leo Damrosch,Leo Damrosch
Translated by Peter Constantine
Edited and with a new introduction by Leo Damrosch
'Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains' is the dramatic opening line of The Social Contract, published in 1762. Quoted by politicians and philosophers alike, the power of this sentence continues to resonate. It laid the groundwork for both the American and French Revolutions, and is considered a foundational text in the development of the modern principles of human rights. Rousseau was an extraordinary visionary and a revolutionary thinker. The Essential Writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau collects his best and most indispensable work.
The book includes: Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality Among Men and The Social Contract in full, plus selections from Émile, a treatise on education, the autobiographical Reveries of the Solitary Walker and Julie, or the New Héloïse,an epistolary novel.
Not only a radical thinker but also one of Europe's most popular novelists
—— GuardianThe 18th century's crankiest sentimental genius
—— Washington PostRousseau...is one of those paradoxical geniuses who tend to inspire all-forgiving love or intense dislike
—— IndependentA graceful study
—— Steven Poole , GuardianOne of the great merits of Charles Emmerson’s global panorama is to show events in the months leading up to the summer of 1914 as something other than a precursor to mass slaughter
—— Mark Damazer , New StatesmanMajestic and cliché-defying
—— Sheena McDonald , HeraldPresents the true nature of the time, poised in hope
—— Discover BritainMarvellous
—— John Lichfield , Independent on SundayFor anybody wanting to understand this time period, including individuals with a keen interest in the events of the Great War, this is a must read book which helps portray a rather different picture to what many might suspect
—— The History BlogEmmerson has done his homework. His book girdles the earth in an impressive fashion and conjures up a world we have lost
—— Piers Brendon , IndependentWith a few deft strokes, Emmerson conjures an air of looming catastrophe
—— Ian Thomson , ObserverA fascinating tour that reveals a truly global society emerging for the first time in human history
—— ChoiceThe old empires were starting to implode and the centres could no longer hold. In an ambitious book, Emmerson catches their last vital sparks in the year before darkness fell
—— Iain Finlayson , The TimesLeaves readers with an astonishing panorama of bustling human activity in places as different and as far apart as London and Winnipeg, Tokyo and Detroit
—— Christopher Smith , Eastern Daily PressWhere Emmerson really scores is in the nuggets of detail
—— Caroline Jowett , Daily ExpressAn epic, sprawling panorama of a book, intended to show the moving world as it was, to bring the past to life in order to clarify the present. It’s a monumentally ambitious aim. The remarkable thing is, he pulls it off
—— Roger Hutchinson , ScotsmanThere is so much that captivates, particularly the entertaining social detail and anecdote
—— Richard Fitzpatrick , Sunday Business PostAn ambitious, subtle account of the way the world was going until the first world war changed everything
—— Kathryn Hughes , GuardianA consistently brilliant survey… The conception of 1913 can thus be described as a smart idea. Its consummation is, frankly, astonishing… A world that was about to embrace death is brought to life with wit, sharpness and occasional delicacy
—— Hugh MacDonald , HeraldThis ambitious panorama of a world on the brink throws up comparisons that are constantly provocative and fascinating
—— Christopher Hudson , Daily Mail1913 has narrative verve and insight
—— Ian Thompson , Guardian WeeklyWhat emerges is a rich portrait and an important set of ideas
—— Economist[Emmerson] takes the reader on a fascinating trip to the brash, bustling cities of North America, before heading off to places as diverse as Buenos Aires and Bombay
—— Good Book GuideMagnificent
—— Christopher Clark , London Review of Books[Emmerson’s] entertaining tour d’horizon is both witty and charming.
—— Jay Winter , Times Literary SupplementA wonderful portrayal of a world before it was cataclysmically changed, a world very different from ours but with some frightening similarities
—— Good Book GuideBrings the fantasies, anxieties and passions of city-dwellers immediately prior to the First World War eloquently to life
—— Joanna Bourke , BBC History MagazineEmmerson provides a real sense of 1913 by combining details of individual lives with sweeping international trends: one of the great pleasures of this book is to see parallels between then and now
—— Anthony Sattin , ObserverUnique... A high-definition snapshot of the world as it stood a century ago
—— Alastair Mabbott , HeraldA series of vivid vignettes... Offers fascinating glimpses of everyday life
—— Mail on SundayA wonderful portrayal of a world before it was cataclysmically changed by war
—— Good Book GuideFascinating and sobering
—— Mail on Sunday[A] fascinating and lively history
—— 4 stars , Daily TelegraphVery complex – but you will grasp it
—— William Leith , Evening StandardA fascination exploration
—— Mail on SundayHighly readable but profoundly researched, The Trigger represents a bold exception to the deluge of First World War books devoted to mud, blood and poetry
—— Ben Macintyre , The Timesa fascinating original portrait of a man and his country
—— Country and Town House