The Enlightenment brings together the work of major Enlightenment thinkers such as Hobbes, Rousseau, Diderot and Kant, to illustrate the full importance and achievements of this period in history. Extracts are gathered thematically into sections on such aspects of the Enlightenment as:

• political theory
• religion and belief
• art and nature.

All essays are introduced, and a final section on 'critical reflections' provides a selection of modern critical opinions on the period by writers including Foucault, Habermas, and Lyotard.

Containing illustrations from the work of artists such as Hogarth and Gainsborough, a chronology of the Enlightenment, and a detailed bibliography, The Enlightenment is a rich source of information and inspiration for all those studying this great period of change.