Search results for ""Author David Wootton""

Book SynopsisJust how much good has medicine done over the years? And how much damage does it continue to do? The history of medicine begins with Hippocrates in the fifth century BC. Yet until the invention of antibiotics in the 1930s doctors, in general, did their patients more harm than good. In this fascinating new look at the history of medicine, David Wootton argues that for more than 2300 years doctors have relied on their patients'' misplaced faith in their ability to cure. Over and over again major discoveries which could save lives were met with professional resistance. And this is not just a phenomenon of the distant past. The first patient effectively treated with penicillin was in the 1880s; the second not until the 1940s. There was overwhelming evidence that smoking caused lung cancer in the 1950s; but it took thirty years for doctors to accept the claim that smoking was addictive. As Wootton graphically illustrates, throughout history and right up to the present, bad medical practice has often been deeply entrenched and stubbornly resistant to evidence. This is a bold and challenging book - and the first general history of medicine to acknowledge the frequency with which doctors do harm.Trade ReviewAptly described as 'explosive' by the British Medical Journal, Bad Medicine is a four-chapter thriller written by accomplished British historian David Wootton ... Wootton's writing style serves as an excellent example to both historians and philosophers: short, concise, clear and engaging sentences which are structured around the period or argument presented ... Overall, Wootton majestically manages to apply historical objectivity to emotionally sensitive issues like death, dying and disease. * Alex Benedyk , Economics and Philosophy Blog *This book is provocative and well written; it leaves you wanting to find out more. * Sameer Rahim, Daily Telegraph *Bad Medicine is provocative and iconoclastic; essential reading for every GP. * PD Smith, The Guardian *Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION: BAD MEDICINE/BETTER MEDICINE; PART I: THE HIPPOCRATIC TRADITION; CONCLUSION TO PART I: THE PLACEBO EFFECT; PART II: REVOLUTION POSTPONED; CONCLUSION TO PART II: TRUST NOT THE PHYSICIAN; PART III: MODERN MEDICINE; CONCLUSION TO PART III: PROGRESS DELAYED; PART FOUR: AFTER CONTAGION

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewWootton's edition is clearly the best on the market--the supporting material is brilliantly chosen and lavishly presented given the cost of the book. --Michael Kulikowski, Smith CollegeAlong with a brisk and very readable rendition of the text, this edition provides the material necessary for understanding the point of Voltaire's satire. Wootton's Introduction gives an excellent account of the dispute over optimism, and the supplementary texts show both the opposing points of view in this dispute, and its development on other texts of Voltaire. --Christopher J. Kelly, co-editor, The Collected Writings of RousseauI annually assign Voltaire's Candide in my Western Civilization since 1500 course. This semester I am using the Hackett edition, having used at least three other editions in the past. What I especially find useful in your edition are the Related Texts. I think they are essential for understanding what Voltaire was addressing. The translation is lively, the notes quite useful, and Wotton's introduction thorough. I don't recall another edition that includes a map. All of these features in an inexpensive paperback--the other editions I've used can’t match it. --Steven Werner, University of Wisconsin-Waukesha

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Book SynopsisWe live in a world made by science. How and when did this happen? This book tells the story of the extraordinary intellectual and cultural revolution that gave birth to modern science, and mounts a major challenge to the prevailing orthodoxy of its history.Before 1492 it was assumed that all significant knowledge was already available; there was no concept of progress; people looked for understanding to the past not the future. This book argues that the discovery of America demonstrated that new knowledge was possible: indeed it introduced the very concept of ''discovery'', and opened the way to the invention of science.The first crucial discovery was Tycho Brahe''s nova of 1572: proof that there could be change in the heavens. The telescope (1610) rendered the old astronomy obsolete. Torricelli''s experiment with the vacuum (1643) led directly to the triumph of the experimental method in the Royal Society of Boyle and Newton. By 1750 Newtonianism was being celebrateTrade ReviewThe seventeenth century saw the emergence of the mindset that characterizes modern science. David Wootton lucidly describes the individuals, the experiments and the controversies that marked this intellectually turbulent and transformative era. ... This fascinating and scholarly book should receive a wide readership. -- Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal, President of the Royal Society 2005-10This is a superb book, at once cogent, revisionist and profound. It offers the most novel and significant account of the Scientific Revolution to appear for many years ... it is simply rather brilliant. -- Michael Hunter, Professor of History at Birkbeck, University of LondonA truly remarkable piece of scholarship. His work has an ingenious and innovative linguistic foundation, examining the invention and redefinition of words as tracers of a new understanding of nature and how to approach it. His erudition is awesome, and his argument is convincing. -- Owen Gingerich, Professor Emeritus of Astronomy and of the History of Science at Harvard UniversityA grand, whooping narrative that is also exhaustively researched. It will, I am certain, become a landmark in the discipline of the history of science. -- Andrea Wulf * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisFocuses on modern constitutionalism with selections from Hume, Montesquieu, the Federalist, and Constant. This title features the author's translation of Constant's 1819 essay "On Ancient and Modern Liberty". It also includes selections from Machiavelli's "Discourses on Livy" and a Hegel selection.Trade ReviewA superbly edited collection--absolutely the best of its kind.--Ian Shapiro, Yale UniversityThis book includes a wide and balanced selection of many of the more important texts of modern political thought. To its great credit, it provides pertinent excerpts from frequently neglected authors, such as Calvin and Hume, which it nicely juxtaposes with writings by more well-read authors such as Hobbes and Locke. The introductions to each section help to situate the writers in their historical and intellectual context and to alert students to some of the central issues that arise in the texts. An economical and useful approach to modern political thought.--Dan Engster, University of ChicagoModern Political Thought might well replace current texts for undergraduate modern political theory and political philosophy classes. In it, primary sources are plentiful and well represented. Wootton's introductions to particular thinkers, as well as to epochs and relations among their thinkers, are absolutely first rate: clear, concise, accessible to undergraduates yet stimulating to the professional.--Peter Schouls, Massey UniversityTable of ContentsIntroduction; Machiavelli and the Renaissance; Hobbes, the Reformation, and the Scientific Revolution; John Locke, David Hume, and the Right of Revolution; Rousseau, the Enlightenment, and the Age of Revolution; Constitutionalism and the Redefinition of Liberty; J S Mill: Feminism and the Pursuit of Happiness; Marx and Marxism; Nietzsche For and Against.

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Book SynopsisGalileo (1564-1642) is one of the most important and controversial figures in the history of science. Tackling Galileo as astronomer, engineer and author, the author places him at the centre of Renaissance culture. He traces Galileo through his early rebellious years onwards.Trade Review"In a quiverful of publications, David Wootton has made it his mission to help us view the Renaissance thought-world in new ways, and this elegant biography does not disappoint. The Galileo he portrays is no saint, either Catholic or secular, but is the more fascinating for revealing the great scientist's selfishness, anxiety and political ineptitude, together with all the intellectual blind alleys taken in struggles towards his eventual goal. Wootton vividly contrasts the religious and political claustrophobia of seventeenth-century Italy with the abstract beauty of the mathematics and geometry which so delighted his subject. This is an absorbing study worthy of the life-story it tells.”—Diarmaid MacCulloch -- Diarmaid MacCulloch"Wootton’s Galileo is many things: private unbeliever, reluctant empiricist and impetuous thinker. This brilliant book traces Galileo’s difficult negotiations of academic jealousies, court politics and ecclesiastical scrutiny, allows us to imagine the excitement and danger of looking through a telescope in Venice, and gives fresh insights into the mind and the man as father and son. A remarkable achievement."—Justin Champion -- Justin Champion"Wootton's biography has much to recommend it. It is engagingly written and offers fresh insights into Galileo's intellectual development."—James Hannam, Standpoint Magazine * Standpoint Magazine *"Wootton. . . argues persuasively in this well researched, intellectual biography that Galileo was a Copernican long before his discovery of the moons of Jupiter proved that not all heavenly bodies revolved around the Earth."—Manjit Kumar, Sunday Telegraph * Telegraph *"Urgent. . . will garner. . . immediate interest and controversy."—Literary Review * Literary Review *"Wittily challenging... Wootton boldly presents his book as an intellectual biography which cannot be isolated from contemporary attitudes to tradition and innovation, and which cannot focus on Galileo's ideas without considering his personality and personal relations."—Claudio Vita-Finzi, Times Literary Supplement -- Claudio Vita-Finzi * Times Literary Supplement *"Wootton [is] a deeply erudite historian by trade and a passionate revisionist by temperament...Read Wooton to meet a Galileo who was always estranged froom vital aspects of his social and cultural world--and used that estrangement, as great intellectuals do, to fuel his intellectual progress."—Anthony Grafton, Bookforum -- Anthony Grafton * Bookforum *"Fascinating reading. . . . With this highly adventurous portrayal of Galileo's inner world, Wootton assures himself a high rank among the most radical recent Galileo interpreters. . . . Undoubtedly Wootton makes an important contribution to Galileo scholarship."—John F. Haught, America -- John F. Haught * America *"A deeply erudite historian by trade and a passionate revisionist by temperament. . . . Read Wootton to meet a Galileo who was always estranged from vital aspects of his social and cultural world-and used that estrangement, as a great intellectuals do, to fuel his intellectual progress."—Anthony Grafton, Bookforum -- Anthony Grafton * Bookforum *"I heartily recommend [this book]…. Wootton aims at an intellectual biography and the results are often magnificent, especially when it comes to explaining the science."—Jonathon Wright, Catholic Herald -- Jonathon Wright * Catholic Herald *"...vivid and compelling… [An] engaging subtle and arresting story."—Eileen Reeves, Times Higher Education -- Eileen Reeves * Times Higher Education *"Engaging and accessible."—James Wilsdon, Financial Times -- James Wilsdon * Financial Times *"Wootton writes a fascinating book…. As a whole, the book is absolutely first rate, and well worth reading and re-reading."—Revd Jeremy Craddock, Church Times -- Revd Jeremy Craddock * Church Times *“Wootton has written a thoughtful biography full of Renaissance detail in which he shows Galileo as a towering figure of genius, a man whose science was conditioned by his character, and who character enabled him to formulate a unique view of the Universe and man’s place in it…..This must be the definitive Galileo biography for the general reader.”—Barry Kent, The Observatory Magazine Vol.131 -- Barry Kent * The Observatory Magazine Vol.131 *“This book is not just a superb biography of Galileo but a good introduction to the centuries-old debate over religious and scientific views of truth.”—Contemporary Review * Contemporary Review *“Wootton’s insights are unnervingly convincing…”—Nick Wilding, London Review of Books -- Nick Wilding * London Review of Books *"[This book] demonstrates an awesome command of the vast Galileo literature. . . . Wootton excels in boldly speculating about Galileo's motives and the overall trajectory of his life. . . . [An] engaging account."—Owen Gingerich, The New York Times Book Review -- Owen Gingerich * The New York Times Book Review *"Wootton has written a lively book that is interesting to read, and one can concentrate on the fascinating details from the extensive research."—Noel M. Swerdlow, American Scientist -- Noel M. Swerdlow * American Scientist *"[This book] demonstrates an awesome command of the vast Galileo literature. . . . Wootton excels in boldly speculating about Galileo's motives and the overall trajectory of his life. . . . [An] engaging account."—Owen Gingerich, The New York Times Book Review -- John Derbyshire * The New Criterion *"[This book] demonstrates awesome command of the vast Galileo literature. . . . Wootton excels in speculating about Galileo's motives and in the overall trajectory of his life. . . . [An] engaging account."—The New York Times Book Review * The New York Times Book Review *" . . . a thought-provoking picture of him [Galileo]. . . . To read this account of how his ideas clashed witht he accepted ones is to appreciate that he is one of the world's great secular heroes."—Rob Hardy, The Commercial Dispatch -- Rob Hardy * The Commercial Dispatch *Selected as a Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2011 in the Astronautics and Astronomy category -- Choice Outstanding Academic Title * Choice *“Wootton’s writing achieves its goals well and a thorough examination and understanding of the large number of Galileo’s papers that have survived has allowed the author to deliver an absorbing account. . .Containing exhaustive notes and an excellent bibliography, Watcher of the Skies is a highly readable account of the life and career of the controversial, impulsive, often rebellious and ever-ambitious astronomer, author and scientist.”—Brian Jones, BBC Sky at Night Magazine -- Brian Jones * BBC Sky at Night Magazine *

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Book Synopsis The seventeenth century was England's century of revolution, an era in which the nation witnessed protracted civil wars, the execution of a king, and the declaration of a short-lived republic. During this period of revolutionary crisis, political writers of all persuasions hoped to shape the outcome of events by the force of their arguments. To read the major political theorists of Stuart England is to be plunged into a world in which many of our modern conceptions of political rights and social change are first formulated. David Wootton''s masterly compilation of speeches, essays, and fiercely polemical pamphlets--organized into chapters focusing on the main debates of the century--represents the first attempt to present in one volume a broad collection of Stuart political thought. In bringing together abstract theorizing and impassioned calls to arms, anonymous tract writers and King James I, Wootton has produced a much-needed collection; in combination with the editor's thoughtful running commentary and invaluable Introduction, its texts bring to life a crucial period in the formation of our modern liberal and conservative theories.

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Book SynopsisDavid Wootton guides us through four centuries of Western thought to show how new ideas about politics, ethics, and economics stepped into a gap opened up by religious conflict and the Scientific Revolution. As ideas about godliness and Aristotelian virtue faded, theories about the rational pursuit of power, pleasure, and profit moved to the fore.Trade ReviewExplains how European thought came to abandon the old virtues and accept the ‘selfish system’ of utility…Wootton explicates complex social and political theories with admirable lucidity. -- Jeffrey Collins * Wall Street Journal *More relevant to our current political and cultural circumstance than any other I’ve read in the last four years…Truly wonderful. -- Lewis Lapham * The World in Time *Wootton presents the conceptual shift that gave birth to our life today in a book that is ambitious and impressive in its sweep…A gripping story of how ideas can change the world. -- John Gray * New Statesman *Wootton does not wish to take sides in the controversy between detractors and defenders of the Enlightenment: his purpose is rather to retrace the emergence of the intellectual and cultural revolution that radically transformed modern Western societies… Power, Pleasure, and Profit is an erudite book, full of learned asides. * Times Literary Supplement *This is decidedly not a traditional history of the Enlightenment as a philosophical or political project…Wootton’s Enlightenment ushered in a moral universe of unstoppable excess—one in which the pursuit of power, pleasure, and profit had no limit, for individuals or for societies…An unusual but fascinating foray into all the great themes of moral and political philosophy, from happiness to politics to commerce to love. -- James Chappel * Commonweal *His erudition is impressive and his range of inquiry is vast… Wootton traces the development of three interrelated notions that together, in his view, displaced the moral and religious inheritance bequeathed by classicism and Christianity. -- Darrin M. McMahon * Literary Review *Gripping…A fascinating story…The Enlightenment spawned a series of assumptions about what human beings are, why they do what they do, and what the good life looks like. We’re still hostage to those assumptions, whether we know it or not, and Wootton’s book asks us to consider the consequences. -- Sean Illing * Vox *In the brilliant, penetrating and amazingly erudite study by David Wootton…readers are treated to an engaging tour of the ‘Enlightenment paradigm’ gaining in the process a more profound understanding of our modern political economy and ethical situation…This book is essential reading for understanding the climate in which we still live and which is exported worldwide through neoliberalism and globalization. -- David Lorimer * Wall Street International *A work of exceptional merit. Wootton is one of the best intellectual historians in the Anglo-American world today. -- Steven Smith, Yale UniversityIn this deliciously written, stunningly erudite, and enchantingly combative book, one of our most free-spirited and original intellectual historians has helped us see the roots of the Enlightenment and thus our contemporary world with entirely new eyes. -- Stephen Holmes, New York UniversityFull of spirited engagement, Wootton’s writing exemplifies iconoclasm, imagination, and verve. -- Christopher Brooke, University of CambridgeWootton’s notion of modest, practical Aristoteilian-esque virtue in the face of limitless appetite is a compelling one, and he stakes his claims methodically and persuasively. -- Nicholas Cannariato * The Millions *Through the writings of great thinkers, Wootton describes the birth of a new concept of human nature during the years 1500 to 1800… Wootton demonstrates a consistent ability to make complex intellectual ideas approachable… A surprisingly lucid examination of a dramatic revolution in human thought. * Kirkus Reviews *Valuable as a wide-ranging…investigation into the philosophical revolution that made the modern Western world. * American Conservative *Erudite…Raises a number of timely ethical and historical questions for a world where the limitless pursuit of power and pleasure appears increasingly unsustainable. -- Anton M. Matytsin * Journal of Modern History *Engaging…The idea that we are driven by our remorseless quest for power, pleasure, and profit, Wootton argues, has come to dominate Western conceptions of politics and economics since the time of Niccolò Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, and Adam Smith, and has largely replaced previously important theories of Christian morality and Aristotelian ethics…A pleasure to read. -- K. Steven Vincent * European Legacy *

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewIn addition to its elegant and precise translation of Utopia, this edition offers the prefatory material and postscripts from the 1518 edition, and More's letter to Giles form the 1517 edition. Mr. Wootton has also added Erasmus's 'The Sileni of Alcibiades,' which is crucial for the interpretation he gives in his Introduction of the many ambiguities and contradictions in More's text as well as his life. The Introduction is a most valuable guide for understanding this man who was a proponent of toleration and a persecutor of heretics, a courtier full of worldly ambition ending as a fearless martyr. The contradictions of the man translated into a complicated and contradictory historiography to which Mr. Wootton's Introduction is a most intelligent guide. A welcome addition to the More literature. -J. W. Smit, Professor of History, Columbia UniversityEvery serious reader of Utopia, friends and foes alike of Thomas More, will be enlightened by Wootton's essay. Combining it with his translations of More and Erasmus works well. This is a delightfully fine piece of scholarship, even down to the notes on the illustrations. --Donald J. Millus, Sixteenth Century JournalLike his Introduction, which says much, both directly and indirectly, about the complexity of More's language and mentality, David Wootton's translation of the Utopia is a thoughtful and careful one. Wootton has been particularly scrupulous in his handling of marginal annotations. . . notes are economical but helpful. Students interested in 16th century humanism and/or developments in early modern Europe will find this edition especially appealing, as will everyone interested in interpretations of More's Utopia, here fruitfully juxtaposed with Erasmus’ philosophy and perspective on the world as these are represented by his adage on ‘The Sileni of Alcibiades.' --Elizabeth McCutcheon, Utopian Studies

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewWootton's edition is clearly the best on the market--the supporting material is brilliantly chosen and lavishly presented given the cost of the book. --Michael Kulikowski, Smith CollegeAlong with a brisk and very readable rendition of the text, this edition provides the material necessary for understanding the point of Voltaire's satire. Wootton's Introduction gives an excellent account of the dispute over optimism, and the supplementary texts show both the opposing points of view in this dispute, and its development on other texts of Voltaire. --Christopher J. Kelly, co-editor, The Collected Writings of RousseauI annually assign Voltaire's Candide in my Western Civilization since 1500 course. This semester I am using the Hackett edition, having used at least three other editions in the past. What I especially find useful in your edition are the Related Texts. I think they are essential for understanding what Voltaire was addressing. The translation is lively, the notes quite useful, and Wotton's introduction thorough. I don't recall another edition that includes a map. All of these features in an inexpensive paperback--the other editions I've used can’t match it. --Steven Werner, University of Wisconsin-Waukesha

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Book SynopsisTo investigate the imaginative leaps of so agile and incisive a mind as Machiavelli''s one needs as much commentary about history, political theory, sources, and language as possible. I have gradually come to realize that readers who remain unaware of these topics frequently finish reading The Prince, put down their copies, and wonder what the shouting was all about. Thus commented eminent Machiavelli scholar James B. Atkinson thirty years ago in justifying what remains today the most informative English-language edition of Machiavelli''s masterpiece available.Trade ReviewThis edition of the The Prince has three distinct and disparate objectives: to provide a fresh and accurate translation; to analyze and find the roots of Machiavelli's thought; and to collect relevant extracts from other works by Machiavelli and some contemporaries, to be used to illuminate and explicate the text. The objectives are all reached with considerable and admirable skill. The reader senses Professor Atkinson's empathy and feeling for even the tiniest movements in Machiavelli's mind. Professor Atkinson has done a great service to students and teachers of Machiavelli, who should certainly welcome this as the most useful edition of The Prince in English. --Mario Domandi, Italica, 1978

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Book SynopsisTo investigate the imaginative leaps of so agile and incisive a mind as Machiavelli''s one needs as much commentary about history, political theory, sources, and language as possible. I have gradually come to realize that readers who remain unaware of these topics frequently finish reading The Prince, put down their copies, and wonder what the shouting was all about. Thus commented eminent Machiavelli scholar James B. Atkinson thirty years ago in justifying what remains today the most informative English-language edition of Machiavelli''s masterpiece available.Trade ReviewThis edition of the The Prince has three distinct and disparate objectives: to provide a fresh and accurate translation; to analyze and find the roots of Machiavelli's thought; and to collect relevant extracts from other works by Machiavelli and some contemporaries, to be used to illuminate and explicate the text. The objectives are all reached with considerable and admirable skill. The reader senses Professor Atkinson's empathy and feeling for even the tiniest movements in Machiavelli's mind. Professor Atkinson has done a great service to students and teachers of Machiavelli, who should certainly welcome this as the most useful edition of The Prince in English. --Mario Domandi, Italica, 1978

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Book SynopsisThis edition of the 'A' text, with supporting documents that include selections from The English Life of Faustus, contemporary testimonies to Marlowe's 'atheism', and passages from the 'B' text, offers a startling new context in which to understand this play, its comedy, and its tawdry representation of demonic magic.Trade ReviewThis is an excellent edition; I really appreciate the clear Introduction and the exceptionally useful notes. I look forward to using this text with a freshman literature class who will really benefit from the helpful textual apparatus. --Charlotte England, Department of English, Salisbury UniversityThe inexpensive paperback will allow this student-friendly text to be added to the reading list of a variety of high-school and college courses. Teachers as well as students will find the Introduction here very useful. --Bibliotheque d'Humanisme et Renaissance

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Book SynopsisHere are The Prince and the most important of the Discourses newly translated into spare, vivid English. Why a new translation? Machiavelli was never the dull, worthy, pedantic author who appears in the pages of other translations, says David Wootton in his Introduction. In the pages that follow I have done my best to let him speak in his own voice. (And indeed, Wootton's Machiavelli does just that when the occasion demands: renderings of that most problematic of words, virtu, are in each instance followed by the Italian). Notes, a map, and an altogether remarkable Introduction no less authoritative for being grippingly readable, help make this edition an ideal first encounter with Machiavelli for any student of history and political theory.Trade ReviewWootton's Introduction is an excellent piece of work that offers both scholars and students a valuable guide to Machiavelli's texts. --Maurizio Viroli, Princeton UniversityThis text is perfect for providing in a single text a balanced presentation of Machiavelli's work. This works excellently in countering general perceptions of a more severe Machiavelli by those familiar only with The Prince. The selections from the Discourses are well chosen. --Brian Caza, Georgetown CollegeThe Introduction is vibrant, comprehensive and persuasive. Manages to address the needs of undergraduates while constituting an original contribution to contemporary scholarship. Bravo! --Alan Houston, University of California, San Diego

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Book SynopsisJames H. Lake and Irving Ribner''s edition of Doctor Faustus is an annotated version, with modernized spelling and punctuation, of the 1616 B-text. James H. Lake''s Introduction discusses the play's historical and dramatic contexts, but focuses on its performance history from the Elizabethan era to our own, including film productions. Textual notes discuss variations between the A and B texts. Interviews with Ralph Alan Cohen of Shenandoah Shakespeare and Andreas Teuber (Mephistopheles in the Richard Burton production) as well as illustrations from theatre and film performances included.

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Book Synopsis"In this new edition of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, David Wootton's Introduction gives the reader both a clear and gripping account of the biographical circumstances that led to the novel’s writing and the most striking and original interpretations of its central themes and of the intellectual and cultural influences on them. Offering a new account of the complex history of its composition, and drawing upon his deep knowledge of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century scientific debates, Wootton reveals the ways in which the origins of Shelley’s novel are inextricably linked to conceptions of the origins of life itself. We have here a transformative reading of one of the world’s best-known stories."—Laura Marcus, Goldsmiths’ Professor of English Literature and Fellow of New College, University of OxfordTrade Review"A superb edition of Shelley's troubling masterpiece, with lucid explanatory notes and rich contextual material on the biographical, cultural, and scientific background to the text. Wootton’s Introduction is a tour de force of revisionist scholarship, and his bold new arguments about Frankenstein's reworking of Promethean myth, its engagement with Romantic-era science, and the sources and significance of its arctic frame-tale will set the agenda for future debate." —Thomas Keymer, Chancellor Henry N. R. Jackman University Professor of English, University of Toronto"Wootton’s new edition presents Shelley's Frankenstein in a vivid new light. Informed by his immense erudition in the histories of both science and political thought, his brilliantly lucid Introduction pieces together the book’s complex and sometimes conflicting elements, and proposes several new interpretations. Generously annotated throughout, and with a judicious selection of related writings and contemporary reviews, this will be the go-to text for all students of the novel." —Seamus Perry, Professor of English Literature and Fellow of Balliol College, University of Oxford

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Book Synopsis"In this new edition of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, David Wootton's Introduction gives the reader both a clear and gripping account of the biographical circumstances that led to the novel’s writing and the most striking and original interpretations of its central themes and of the intellectual and cultural influences on them. Offering a new account of the complex history of its composition, and drawing upon his deep knowledge of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century scientific debates, Wootton reveals the ways in which the origins of Shelley’s novel are inextricably linked to conceptions of the origins of life itself. We have here a transformative reading of one of the world’s best-known stories."—Laura Marcus, Goldsmiths’ Professor of English Literature and Fellow of New College, University of OxfordTrade Review"A superb edition of Shelley's troubling masterpiece, with lucid explanatory notes and rich contextual material on the biographical, cultural, and scientific background to the text. Wootton’s Introduction is a tour de force of revisionist scholarship, and his bold new arguments about Frankenstein's reworking of Promethean myth, its engagement with Romantic-era science, and the sources and significance of its arctic frame-tale will set the agenda for future debate." —Thomas Keymer, Chancellor Henry N. R. Jackman University Professor of English, University of Toronto"David Wootton, the editor of a splendid new edition of Frankenstein that includes a rich variety of relevant texts, prefers to focus on the contribution made to the novel by Mary's reading of contemporary articles on travel (the book’s first narrator, Robert Walton, is bound for the North Pole, which he describes as 'the favourite dream of my early years'). Wootton’s magisterial introduction grants equal significance to the earnest discussions about generating life that took place in 1816 at Lord Byron’s lakeside villa in Switzerland, where Frankenstein was conceived." —Miranda Seymour, in The New York Review of Books"Wootton’s new edition presents Shelley's Frankenstein in a vivid new light. Informed by his immense erudition in the histories of both science and political thought, his brilliantly lucid Introduction pieces together the book’s complex and sometimes conflicting elements, and proposes several new interpretations. Generously annotated throughout, and with a judicious selection of related writings and contemporary reviews, this will be the go-to text for all students of the novel." —Seamus Perry, Professor of English Literature and Fellow of Balliol College, University of Oxford

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Book SynopsisThis is an excellent, readable and vigorous translation of The Prince, but it is much more than simply a translation. The map, notes and guide to further reading are crisp, to-the-point and yet nicely comprehensive. The inclusion of the letter to Vettori is most welcome. But, above all, the Introduction is so gripping and lively that it has convinced me to include The Prince in my syllabus for History of Western Civilization the next time that I teach it. . . . Great price, too! And lovely printing and layout. --Rachel Fulton, University of ChicagoTrade Review"The translation is lively and readable and makes the pithy, bracing, and forceful aspects of Machiavelli's thought accessible to nonspecialists." --Michael C. Downs, Indiana University"The best edition of The Prince that I have ever read. Wootton's translation is lively and easy to read, and his introduction is provocative and engaging." --Angelo Louisa, University of Nebraska, OmahaTable of ContentsPart I: The Late Classics / Post-classic in Oaxaca - An Introduction; Part II: Chronology, Continuity and Disjunction - Etic and Emic Perspectives; Part III: Continuity and Abandonment of Houses in the Valley of Oaxaca - Lambityeco and Macuilxochitl; Part IV: Changing Power Relations and Interaction in the Lower Rio Verde Valley; Part V: Sacred History and Legitimisation in the Mixteca Alta; Part VI: New Research Frontiers in Oaxaca and Eastern Guerreo; Index.

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Book SynopsisWootton''s translation brings out the liveliness of More''s work and offers an accurate and reliable version of a masterpiece of social theory. His edition is further distinguished by the inclusion of a translation of Erasmus''s ''The Sileni of Alcibiades,'' a work very close in sentiment to Utopia, and one immensely influential in the sixteenth century. This attractive combination suits the edition especially well for use in Renaissance and Reformation courses as well as as for Western Civilization survey courses. Wootton's Introduction simultaneously provides a remarkably useful guide to anyone's first reading of More's mysterious work and advances an original argument on the origins and purposes of Utopia which no one interested in sixteenth-century social theory will want to miss.Trade ReviewIn addition to its elegant and precise translation of Utopia, this edition offers the prefatory material and postscripts from the 1518 edition, and More's letter to Giles form the 1517 edition. Mr. Wootton has also added Erasmus's 'The Sileni of Alcibiades,' which is crucial for the interpretation he gives in his Introduction of the many ambiguities and contradictions in More's text as well as his life. The Introduction is a most valuable guide for understanding this man who was a proponent of toleration and a persecutor of heretics, a courtier full of worldly ambition ending as a fearless martyr. The contradictions of the man translated into a complicated and contradictory historiography to which Mr. Wootton's Introduction is a most intelligent guide. A welcome addition to the More literature. -J. W. Smit, Professor of History, Columbia UniversityEvery serious reader of Utopia, friends and foes alike of Thomas More, will be enlightened by Wootton's essay. Combining it with his translations of More and Erasmus works well. This is a delightfully fine piece of scholarship, even down to the notes on the illustrations. --Donald J. Millus, Sixteenth Century JournalLike his Introduction, which says much, both directly and indirectly, about the complexity of More's language and mentality, David Wootton's translation of the Utopia is a thoughtful and careful one. Wootton has been particularly scrupulous in his handling of marginal annotations. . . notes are economical but helpful. Students interested in 16th century humanism and/or developments in early modern Europe will find this edition especially appealing, as will everyone interested in interpretations of More's Utopia, here fruitfully juxtaposed with Erasmus’ philosophy and perspective on the world as these are represented by his adage on ‘The Sileni of Alcibiades.' --Elizabeth McCutcheon, Utopian Studies

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Book SynopsisSuitable for students of history and political theory, this work includes notes, a 2-page map, an index, and an Introduction by David Wootton.Trade Review"The translation is lively and readable and makes the pithy, bracing, and forceful aspects of Machiavelli's thought accessible to nonspecialists." --Michael C. Downs, Indiana University"The best edition of The Prince that I have ever read. Wootton's translation is lively and easy to read, and his introduction is provocative and engaging." --Angelo Louisa, University of Nebraska, OmahaTable of ContentsPart I: The Late Classics / Post-classic in Oaxaca - An Introduction; Part II: Chronology, Continuity and Disjunction - Etic and Emic Perspectives; Part III: Continuity and Abandonment of Houses in the Valley of Oaxaca - Lambityeco and Macuilxochitl; Part IV: Changing Power Relations and Interaction in the Lower Rio Verde Valley; Part V: Sacred History and Legitimisation in the Mixteca Alta; Part VI: New Research Frontiers in Oaxaca and Eastern Guerreo; Index.

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Book SynopsisThis substantially revised new edition of Rousseau: The Basic Political Writings features a brilliant new Introduction by David Wootton, a revision by Donald A. Cress of his own 1987 translation of Rousseau's most important political writings, and the addition of Cress' new translation of Rousseau's State of ?War. New footnotes, headnotes, and a chronology by David Wootton provide expert guidance to first-time readers of the texts.

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Book SynopsisThis new edition features a revision by Donald A. Cress of his bestselling 1987 translation of On the Social Contract together with Introduction, footnotes, and chronology by David Wootton, one of our leading historians of the Enlightenment.

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Book SynopsisThis substantially revised new edition of Rousseau: The Basic Political Writings features a brilliant new Introduction by David Wootton, a revision by Donald A. Cress of his own 1987 translation of Rousseau's most important political writings, and the addition of Cress' new translation of Rousseau's State of ?War. New footnotes, headnotes, and a chronology by David Wootton provide expert guidance to first-time readers of the texts.

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