Cultural History of Ideas in the Age of Empire

PRAISE FOR A CULTURAL HISTORY OF IDEAS: VOLUMES 1-6
A 2024 CHOICE OUTSTANDING ACADEMIC TITLE
2023 AAP PROSE AWARDS WINNER: BEST HUMANITIES REFERENCE WORK

Few major European writers of the nineteenth century addressed the topic of empire explicitly, but its components are present throughout their work: in science and religion, literature and the arts, and philosophy, politics, and economics. This volume in the award-winning 6-volume set A Cultural History of Ideas, encompassing the period between the French Revolution and the First World War, offers a comprehensive account of nine central domains of thought in the long nineteenth century or “age of empire”. Employing recent approaches in cultural history, scholars from a variety of fields revisit well-known works and present less-familiar figures to assess the origins and impact of ideas in their national and global contexts.

Taken together, these chapters share large themes that define this most consequential period in European history, including the status and reach of speculative reason, the changing roles of science and religion in public life, the emergence of modern selfhood, and the cultural and political effects of mass democracy.

The 6-volume set A Cultural History of Ideas is part of The Cultural Histories Series. Titles are available in print for individuals or for libraries needing just one subject or preferring a tangible reference for their shelves or as part of a fully-searchable digital library. The digital product is available to institutions by annual subscription or on perpetual access via www.bloomsburyculturalhistory.com. Individual volumes for academics and researchers interested in specific historical periods are also available in print or digitally via www.bloomsburycollections.com.