A New York Times selection 100 Notable Books of 2015: “I was struck again and again by the extraordinary breadth, erudition and lucidity of this book.” –Fareed Zakaria, New York Times Book Review
“I cannot praise this book enough. Ideas are indeed the stuff of culture and how they have played out in the 20th and 21st century is a matter of paramount interest to us all.” –L. Farhat-Holzman, Comparative Civilizations Reviw
Beyond any doubt, the most powerful individuals of the 20th century never lived to see it. To understand this, The Shape of the New argues that it is impossible to understand the ideological and political conflicts of our own time without knowing the history of world-changing ideas, above all those concerning freedom, equality, evolution, and democracy.
This powerful, award-winning book offers unforgettable portraits of Adam Smith, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, Charles Darwin, and Karl Marx—heirs of the Enlightenment who embodied its highest ideals about progress. It shows how their ideas, over time and in the hands of their followers and opponents, transformed the very nature of our beliefs, institutions, economies, and politics. Shape of the New is one of the few books available today that explains in depth how the modern world has become what it is.AmazonAmazon UKBarnes & NobleiBooksIndieboundPowell’s