Paul Johnson puts the private morality of some of our greatest thinkers under the spotlight. In this provocative book,Paul Johnson examines whether intellectuals are morally fit to give advice to humanity.How great is their respect for truth? How do they apply their public principles to their private lives? How loyal are they to their friends? These questions are asked in a series of case studies.Rousseau,Shelley,Marx,Ibsen,Tolstoy,Hemingway,Bertrand Russell,Brecht,Sartre,Edmund Wilson,Victor Gollancz,Lillian Hellman,Norman ...
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Paul Johnson puts the private morality of some of our greatest thinkers under the spotlight. In this provocative book,Paul Johnson examines whether intellectuals are morally fit to give advice to humanity.How great is their respect for truth? How do they apply their public principles to their private lives? How loyal are they to their friends? These questions are asked in a series of case studies.Rousseau,Shelley,Marx,Ibsen,Tolstoy,Hemingway,Bertrand Russell,Brecht,Sartre,Edmund Wilson,Victor Gollancz,Lillian Hellman,Norman Mailer and others are revealed in incisive portraits,as intellectuals both brilliant and contradictory.
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Add this copy of Intellectuals to cart. $6.33, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Brownstown, MI, UNITED STATES, published 1989 by Trafalgar Square.
Add this copy of Intellectuals to cart. $6.33, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1989 by Trafalgar Square.
Add this copy of Intellectuals to cart. $6.33, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1989 by Trafalgar Square.
Add this copy of Intellectuals to cart. $103.48, new condition, Sold by GridFreed rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from North Las Vegas, NV, UNITED STATES, published 1989 by Trafalgar Square.
Very good book & a joy to read. It's the 2nd book I've read by Paul Johnson & look forward to reading more. Wish he's make a part 2 to this book.
JDGalaxy
Dec 29, 2007
Great Book !
Historian Paul Johnson discovers the threads running through the lives of liberal writers, theorists, and thinkers. These utopian liberals treated their own families terribly, tended to have drinking problems, and were far better at telling others how to live their lives than they were at living their own. Other remarkable threads are the lack of divine guidance, the upholding of untested ideas, and the rejection of traditional authority. Yes, Johnson is a conservative - and one of the most insightful historians of our age.
Welly
Nov 8, 2007
Stimulating
Mr Johnson is a great historian. He may not always be right, but he always makes you think and re-evaluate your assumptions. In the case of this book, which invites us to see the leaden feet of many liberal icons, I would only raise the question of whether or not it was necessary to come down so hard on Bertrand Russell simply because he declined to learn how to make tea.
