Barbarism and Religion, vol.1: The Enlightenments of Edward Gibbon

Barbarism and Religion #1

by J.G.A. Pocock

In this first volume, The Enlightenments of Edward Gibbon, John Pocock follows Gibbon through his youthful exile in Switzerland and his criticisms of the Encyclopédie and traces the growth of his historical interests down to the conception of the Decline and Fall itself.

Genres: History, Philosophy, Religion, Biography, Politics, Nonfiction

339 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 1999

About the author

John Greville Agard Pocock was a historian of political thought, best known for his studies of republicanism in the early modern period (mostly in Europe, Britain, and America), his work on the history of English common law, his treatment of Edward Gibbon and other Enlightenment historians, and, in historical method, for his contributions to the history of political discourse. Pocock taught at Washington University in St. Louis from 1966 until 1975, and at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore from 1975 until 2011.

Reviews

[Philip Chaston · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoughtful introduction to Gibbon and a reminder that religion was a seminal thread in the Enlightenment.