The Sense of Reality: Studies in Ideas and Their History

Eight of the nine pieces in The Sense of Reality are published here for the first time. The range is characteristically wide: realism in history; judgement in politics; the special right of philosophers to self-expression; the history of socialism; the nature and impast of Marxism; the radical cultural revolution instigated by romanticism; the Russian notion of artistic commitment; the origins and practice of nationalism. The title essay, starting from the impossibility of recreating a bygone epoch, provides a superb centrepiece. ‘All the productions of Berlin’s long and distinguished career are characterised by urbanity, insight, profound scholarship and witty elegance. These traits are satisfyingly and instructively here present again. ’ FINANCIAL TIMES ‘They exude a generous, sympathetic and large-minded enthusiasm for all sorts of thinkers and all sorts of ideas that make them a continuous pleasure to read. ’ TLS