Isaiah Berlin: a life
by Michael Ignatieff
List Price:
Our Price: $14.93
You Save: $1.57 (10%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.66 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Michael IgnatieffEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2000-01
ISBN: 0099577313
Number of pages: 356
Publisher: Vintage UK
Summary of Isaiah Berlin: a life
Isaiah Berlin was witness to a century. Born in Riga in the twilight of the Czarist empire, he lived long enough to see the Soviet state collapse. Biographer of Marx, scholar of the Romantic movement, and defer of the liberal idea of freedom against Soviet tyranny, Berlin was the presiding judge of intellectual life on both sides of the Atlantic. When he died in 1997, he was hailed as the most important liberal philosopher of his time. But Berlin's life was not only a life of the mind. From Albert Einstein to Virginia Woolf, Winston Churchill to Anna Akhmatova, his circle of friends constitutes a veritable who's who of twentieth-century art, politics, and philosophy. In this definitive work, the result of a remarkable ten-year collaboration between biographer and subject, Michael Ignatieff charts the emergence of a unique temperament and a singular vision.Russian by birth, Jewish by descent, English by choice, Isaiah Berlin (1909-97) knit together three identities into a cosmopolitan sensibility that informed his contributions as one of the 20th century's most influential and important intellectuals. Based on his experiences as a child during the Russian Revolution and his friendships with such beleaguered writers as Boris Pasternak and Anna Akhmatova, Berlin affirmed the superiority of individual freedom and judgment to Marxist totalitarianism. But he made fellow liberals uncomfortable with his unwelcome reminders that their ideals--liberty, equality, social justice--inevitably conflicted and required painful tradeoffs. London-based journalist Michael Ignatieff, who spent 10 years interviewing Berlin before his death, adeptly captures an appealing man: lighthearted, spontaneous, a brilliant conversationalist and lecturer (one of Oxford University's most popular professors), able to savor private happiness despite an essentially tragic view of political life. Ignatieff admires Berlin's views without accepting them uncritically; similarly, he acknowledges personal failings while appreciating the serenity Berlin achieved against considerable odds. This lucidly written, thoughtfully argued work is a model of the well-balanced biography, carefully evaluating the complex interplay of character and conviction in one remarkable individual. --Wendy Smith
Historical Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Historical Books
Alexander Hamiltonby Ron Chernow
Penguin Audio; Published: 2004-04-26; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $134.40
America and Americans and Selected Nonfiction (Penguin Classics)by John Steinbeck
Penguin Classics; Published: 2003-04-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops:
Sailing Alone around the World (Penguin Classics)by Joshua Slocum
Penguin Classics; Published: 1999-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sistersby Charlotte Mosley
Harper; Published: 2007-11-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.00
Price in other shops:
Profiles in Courage (slipcased edition): Decisive Moments in the Lives of Celebrated Americansby John F. Kennedy
Harper; Published: 2006-10-17; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.99
Price in other shops:
Lost Years: A Memoir 1945 - 1951by Christopher Isherwood
HarperCollins; Published: 2000-09-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $17.99
Price in other shops:
Thomas Jefferson: A Lifeby Willard Sterne Randall
Harper Perennial; Published: 1994-06-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.10
Price in other shops:
The Professor and the Madmanby Simon Winchester
Harper; Published: 1998-08-26; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.50
Price in other shops:
Patton: A Genius for Warby Carlo D'Este, este, Carlo D'
Harpercollins; Published: 1995-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $49.94
Stonewall Jacksonby James Robertson
Macmillan Pub.; Published: 1997-02-18; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $48.00
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Orlando (Wordsworth Classics)by Virginia Woolf
Wordsworth Editions Ltd; Published: 1999-12-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.16
Price in other shops:
Confessions (Penguin Classics)by Augustine
Penguin Classics; Published: 1961-11-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.83
Price in other shops:
Khrushchev: The Man and His Eraby William Taubman
W. W. Norton & Company; Published: 2004-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.83
Price in other shops:
A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599 (P.S.)by James Shapiro
Harper Perennial; Published: 2006-06-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.98
Price in other shops:
Means of Ascent (The Years of Lyndon Johnson)by Robert A. Caro
Vintage; Published: 1991-03-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.89
Price in other shops:
Decision Points (Random House Large Print)by George W. Bush
Random House Large Print; Published: 2010-11-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.00
Price in other shops:
A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
Vintage; Published: 1991-06-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Price in other shops:
The Master: A Novelby Colm Toibin
Scribner; Published: 2005-04-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.25
Price in other shops:
Cleopatra: A Lifeby Stacy Schiff
Back Bay Books; Published: 2011-09-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.10
Price in other shops:
God: A Biographyby Jack Miles
Vintage; Published: 1996-03-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.63
Price in other shops: