The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith & Politics in a Post-Religious Right America

The late historian Roy Porter has provided an invaluable addition to studies in the history of the Enlightenment with his book, The Creation of the Modern World: The Untold Story of the British Enlightenment (hereafter CMW). Livelier than any work of intellectual history has a right to be, Porter proves himself a master historian with a sharp pen. Polished in style and scholarship, wit and weightiness, CMW should stand as... Read Full Review

I'm pretty impressed by the extensive documentation, not just in the bibliography but also in the endnotes. Porter hardly mentioned Ben Franklin, who was after all American. But as a Briton before 1776 Franklin too was part of the British Enlightenment.Porter placed particular emphasis on the role of Priestley, whom he said is often neglected. I think Porter was exactly right about Priestley, who was probably as important... Read Full Review

Roy Porter's discussion of the British enlightenment may not be an "untold story," but it is an important story that is often underemphasized in the history of the enlightenment. The essence of Porter's argument is that Britain did, in fact, have an enlightenment as vibrant and relevant as those more studied enlightenments in France and Germany.In the first half of the book, Porter demonstrates the existence of a British... Read Full Review

Usually it's a case of extracting Scottish history from Anglocentric history books, but in the case of the Enlightenment we have the opposite scenario. This book fills a needed void then. This is also a useful book since many of the people mentioned are underrated or their influence misunderstood. Not only that but some of these people were to influence others who came later in their family - Erasmus Darwin, Wollstonecroft... Read Full Review