Introducing the Enlightenment

by Lloyd Spencer

This graphic "road map" traces the patterns of thought of the 18th century, and guides the reader to a better understanding of the series of complex relationships that came to be known as the enlightenment. Embracing friendships, rivalry, influence and animosity, these relationships crossed cultures and countries throughout Europe and the New World. Although intellectually complex in nature, the Enlightenment includes some of the most accessible and sensitive writings from figures such as Diderot, Voltaire and Rousseau. Author Lloyd Spencer and illustrator Andrzej Krauze also reveal the thinking of Adam Smith, Samuel Johnson, and founding fathers Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Introducing the Enlightenment follows the struggle to re-think the world in secular terms after centuries of religious dogma.