The Sense of Reality : Studies in Ideas and Their History

A New York Times Notable Book of the Year

Isaiah Berlin's The Sense of Reality contains an important body of previously unknown work by one of our century's leading historians of ideas, and one of the finest essayists writing in English. Eight of the nine pieces included here are published for the first time, and their range is characteristically wide: the subjects explored include realism in history; judgement in politics; the history of socialism; the nature and impact of Marxism; the radical cultural revolution instigated by the Romantics; Russian notions of artistic commitment; and the origins and practice of nationalism. The title essay, starting from the impossibility of historians being able to recreate a bygone epoch, is a superb centerpiece.

“For anyone wanting to understand the history of ideas, this book will be indispensable.” —John Gray, The New York Times Book Review

“He many erudite, but he is not academic. He addresses his essays to the general reader, and he speaks with such infectious energy that he sweeps us up and carries up with him into territory that had seemed inaccessible. He becomes everyman's guide to everything exciting in the history of ideas.” —Robert Darnton, The New York Review of Books

“If it were possible to add to a reputation already so considerable, these essays would do it...[They are the works of] urbanity, insight, profound scholarship and writerly elegance.” —A.C. Grayling, Financial Times