Louis Dupre's study of the Enlightenment, ranging as it does over art, morality, religion, science, philosophy, social theory, and a good deal besides, is a marvel of scholarly erudition. . . . A formidably well-researched book, which would make an excellent introduction to Enlightenment ideas for the general reader.-Terry Eagleton, Harper's Magazine

An eminent scholar of modern culture argues that the Enlightenment the importance of which has been vigorously debated in recent years was a more complex phenomenon than either its detractors or advocates assume.