Making History, Enlightenment Style

Jean Huber, Voltaire Presiding at a Dinner of Philosophers (18th C.) (Numbered in ink: 1 Voltaire, 2 Père Adam. 3 L’Abbé Mauri. 4 D’Alembert. 5 Condorcet./ 6 Diderot. 7 Lah/arpe)

One of the epigrams for Richard Cohen’s book Making History is Hilary Mantel’s observation that “[b]eneath every history, there is another history—there is, at least, the life of the historian.” There is much in Robertson’s chapter, “Philosophical History,” from his book The Enlightenment, that bears out that statement.