The No1 Ethical retailer for Books, CD’s, DVD’s & Games
30 Day Refund Guarantee

The Hedgehog And The Fox: An Essay on Tolstoy's View of History (W&N Essentials)

The Hedgehog And The Fox: An Essay on Tolstoy's View of History (W&N Essentials)

by IsaiahBerlin (Author)

  • Used

    Paperback 2014

    $21.54
Synopsis

Isaiah Berlin's classic essay on Tolstoy - an exciting new edition with new criticism and a foreword.

'The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.' This fragment of Archilochus, which gives this book its title, describes the central thesis of Isaiah Berlin's masterly essay on Tolstoy. There have been various interpretations of Archilochus' fragment; Isaiah Berlin has simply used it, without implying anything about the true meaning of the words, to outline a fundamental distinction that exists in mankind, between those who are fascinated by the infinite variety of things (foxes) and those who relate everything to a central all-embracing system (hedgehogs). When applied to Tolstoy, the image illuminates a paradox of his philosophy of history, and shows why he was frequently misunderstood by his contemporaries and critics. Tolstoy was by nature a fox, but he believed in being a hedgehog.

$21.54

Quantity

1 in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
 Pages: 144
 Publisher: W&N
Published: 13 Nov 2014
ISBN 10: 1780228422
ISBN 13: 9781780228426
Book Overview: Isaiah Berlin's classic essay on Tolstoy - an exciting new edition with new criticism and a foreword.

Media Reviews
Brilliant ... searching and profound * TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT *
This little book is so entertaining, as well as acute, that the reader hardly notices that it is learned too * OBSERVER *
Very readable, with a lively honed down style * SUNDAY MERCURY *
The most important study of Tolstoy's thought written in English for a long time * THE LISTENER *
Delightful to read * SUNDAY TIMES *
[Berlin] has a deep and subtle feeling for the puzzle of Tolstoy's personality, and he writes throughout ... with a wonderful eloquence * NEW YORK TIMES *
Beautifully written and suggestive -- W H Auden * NEW YORKER *
Berlin's stunning command of the resources of scholarship, his sensitivity to literature and to character, and his eloquence as a writer give this essay the lustre of a virtuoso performance * ATLANTIC *
The argument is ingenious and subtle, full of overtones - exactly what good critical writing should be * GUARDIAN *
very readable, with a lively honed down style * SUNDAY MERCURY *
Author Bio
Sir Isaiah Berlin OM spent the whole of his professional life at Oxford, as a Fellow of All Souls College, a Fellow of New College, Chichele Professor of Social and Political theory and first President of Wolfson College. He is the author of many books and was President of the British Academy from 1974 until 1978. He died in 1997.