By James Buchan 8/30/04 12:00am

A Designer Enlightenment Tailored to Conservative Tastes

The Roads to Modernity: The British, French and American Enlightenments , by Gertrude Himmelfarb. Alfred A. Knopf, 272 pages, $25.

Europe and North America in the second half of the 18th century thought of themselves as enlightened. Images of light and enlightenment sparkle through the philosophy, the sermons, the journalism, even the commercial prospectuses Read More

By Stephen Metcalf 11/24/03 12:00am

A City’s Shining Moment Helps Shape Our Heritag

Crowded with Genius: The Scottish Enlightenment, Edinburgh’s Moment of the Mind , by James Buchan. HarperCollins, 340 pages, $29.95.

At the beginning of the 18th century, the city of Edinburgh was little more than a filthy medieval backwater-as James Buchan paints it in his wonderful new book, Crowded with Genius: The Scottish Enlightenment: Edinburgh’s Moment Read More