Against the Current: Essays in the History of Ideas (ISBN 0691090262)

Brilliant!:
Sir Isaiah Berlin was the greatest exponent of Liberal Pluralism in the 20th Century. "Against The Current" is probably his best collection of essays. The essays on Verdi and George Sorel are worth the price of the book alone. Do yourself a favor and read this book. You will not regret it.

The special joy of seeing a great mind work:
Itis simply a great pleasure to read Isaiah Berlin. His richness in thought, his verbal fluency his strong sense of values and clear understanding of the historical context in which he is presenting the ideas- all this combines to make reading him an adventure of the mind. In this work the third group of his essays put together by his faithful student and friend Henry Hardy the theme is those thinkers who go against the current, who walk their own way, hear their own drummer. Macchiavelli, Vico,Hume,Montesquieu, Herzen, Disraeli,Moses Hess, Verdi, and Marx, Sorel are all interpreted here . There is an essay on' The Counter- Enlightentment, one on The Divorce between the Sciences and the Humanities, one on ' Nationalism: Past Neglect and Present Power. The introduction to the volume is written by Roger Hausher. As with all the writings of Berlin one will learn a great deal by reading this work- and have great pleasure in doing so.

Brilliant!:
Sir Isaiah Berlin was the greatest exponent of Liberal Pluralism in the 20th Century. "Against The Current" is probably his best collection of essays. The essays on Verdi and George Sorel are worth the price of the book alone. Do yourself a favor and read this book. You will not regret it.

Do you want to make a step to understand the present world?:
If you think the present world is full of contradictions, of opposing philosophies, and that it might be doomed, please give a chance at this set of essais by Isaiah Berlin. Not only his writing is clear and flowing, but his argumentation is very enlightening. Isaiah Berlin will never be controversial. He will never take a strong position. He will let you decide. Like an archeologist, he put back to life the ideas who were considered crazy at their time, and now looked much more reasonable. Even the introduction by Roger Hausheer gives you a lecherous taste of what is inside. And I was not disappointed. Thinking that there are ten more books on essays by Berlin, my head is spining. Did he not say already everything in this one...?

some more brilliant berlin essays:
Berlin's essays are always a pleasure to read, insightful and unpredictable, and this collection is no exception. Some of these essays have appeared in other collections, and I enjoyed them the second time around too. The history of ideas is a richly rewarding field of intellectual endeavor, but it unfortunately doesn't attract many who can write as well they think they can think. Berlin is one of the best. In contrast, Peter Watson's recent thick volume Ideas: A History of Thought and Invention, from Fire to Freud)) seems shallow and hurried.