Bruce Mazlish (1923–2016)

Another in a long line of books (inclusive of Goldwater and Trump) in which someone tries to delve into the mind of a prominent Republican politician, the subtext being: what makes them so crazy? A whole lot of stitched-together babble, and if you've read a lot of Watergate-era books, none of it is going to be new.

Bronowski was a towering intellect yet, filled with a passion that flowed through his work. My view is that he represented a role model not only as an intellectual, but as a human being. Here, in a single volume, he tackles thought from the Renaissance to Hegel. A wonderful, yet dense read.

This was a well written history Western European ideas from the Renaissance to the mid 19th century. The authors do a good job at pinning down key moments when political, philosophical, economic, social and religious ideas changed and how this came about. So overwhelming was this revolution in thought that it now underlies western and a lot of the world's culture today. The value and potential of the individual. That is the key cultural gift that western Europe has given the world.