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On Looking Into the Abyss

Untimely Thoughts on Culture and Society

Author Gertrude Himmelfarb
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Paperback
$17.00 US
Knopf | Vintage
On sale Jan 31, 1995 | 224 Pages | 9780679759232
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Himmelfarb turns her intellect and powers of observation to the present, exposing what she sees as the intellectual arrogance and spiritual impoverishment of much of our current thought, and tracing the consequences for our collective life. She deconstructs literary deconstructionism and postmodernism, diagnoses the malaise of liberalism, analyzes the resurgence of nationalism, and argues that structuralist approaches to history tend to minimize the importance of ideas and individual will.

"A lucidly written...and highly provocative collection of essays...Ms. Himmelfarb proves herself an eloquent and persuasive witness."--The New York Times
Gertrude Himmelfarb taught for 23 years at Brooklyn College and the Graduate School of the City University of New York, where she was named distinguished professor of history in 1978. Now professor emeritus, she lives with her husband, Irving Kristol, in Washington, DC. Her books include The De-Moralization of Society: From Victorian Virtues to Modern Values; On Looking into the Abyss: Untimely Thoughts on Culture and Society; Poverty and Compassion: The Moral Imagination of the Late Victorians; The New History and the Old; Marriage and Morals Among the Victorians; The Idea of Poverty: England in the Early Industrial Age; On Liberty and Liberalism: The Case of John Stuart Mill; Victorian Minds (nominated for a National Book Award); Darwin and the Darwinian Revolution; and Lord Acton: A Study in Conscience and Politics. View titles by Gertrude Himmelfarb

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Himmelfarb turns her intellect and powers of observation to the present, exposing what she sees as the intellectual arrogance and spiritual impoverishment of much of our current thought, and tracing the consequences for our collective life. She deconstructs literary deconstructionism and postmodernism, diagnoses the malaise of liberalism, analyzes the resurgence of nationalism, and argues that structuralist approaches to history tend to minimize the importance of ideas and individual will.

"A lucidly written...and highly provocative collection of essays...Ms. Himmelfarb proves herself an eloquent and persuasive witness."--The New York Times

Author

Gertrude Himmelfarb taught for 23 years at Brooklyn College and the Graduate School of the City University of New York, where she was named distinguished professor of history in 1978. Now professor emeritus, she lives with her husband, Irving Kristol, in Washington, DC. Her books include The De-Moralization of Society: From Victorian Virtues to Modern Values; On Looking into the Abyss: Untimely Thoughts on Culture and Society; Poverty and Compassion: The Moral Imagination of the Late Victorians; The New History and the Old; Marriage and Morals Among the Victorians; The Idea of Poverty: England in the Early Industrial Age; On Liberty and Liberalism: The Case of John Stuart Mill; Victorian Minds (nominated for a National Book Award); Darwin and the Darwinian Revolution; and Lord Acton: A Study in Conscience and Politics. View titles by Gertrude Himmelfarb

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