The Roots of Romanticism is the long-awaited text of Isaiah Berlin's most celebrated set of lectures, the Mellon Lectures, delivered in Washington in 1965 and heard since by a much wider audience on BBC radio. For Berli, the Romantics set in train a vast, unparalleled revolution in humanity's view of itself. They destroyed the traditional notion of objective truth in ethicsm with incalculable, all-pervasive results. In his unscripted tour de force Berlin surveys the myriad attempts to define romanticism, distils its essence, traces its development, and shows how its legacy permeates our outlook today.
'Berlin at his best: quick-minded, erudite, witty and profound and, above all, exciting. To read this book...is to feel the force of living thought coming white-hot from the forge of a superb mind.'
John Benville, Irish Times
The Roots of Romanticism is the long-awaited text of Isaiah Berlin's most celebrated set of lectures, the Mellon Lectures, delivered in Washington in 1965 and heard since by a wider audience on BBC radio. For Berlin, the romantics set in train a vast, unparalleled revolution in humanity's view of itself. They destroyed the traditional notion of objective truth in ethics, with incalculable, all-pervasive results. In his unscripted tour de force Berlin surveys the myriad attempts to define romanticism, distils its essence, traces its development, and shows how its legacy permeates our outlook today.
'This is their first appearance in print, and they're a treat...You hear the waves of words swelling, crashing, only to surge once more....revealing, exciting, elemental, intense. That's just what romanticism is about.'
Eugen Weber, Key Reporter
'Isaiah Berlin at the height of his glory.'
Michael Foot, Independent on Sunday
'Exhilaratingly thought-provoking.'
Iain Finlayson, The Times
'A profound, if often tantalising, contribution to an understanding of the West's culture ...This is a book that would be salutary a read for prime ministers and presidents as for those who see themselves as cultural critics.'
Peter Mudford, The Times Higher Education Supplement
'In an era where humane intellect discourse has been deconstructed, intertextualised, phallicised and generally kicked senseless, Berlin's writing shines like a beacon.'
Rupert Christiansen, Spectator
