Lynn Hunt

This was a fascinating alternative historical perspective on how "human rights" came to shape the American and French Revolutions. Of particular interest to me, was Hunt's convincing argument in Chapter One that 18th century epistolary novels helped create a sense of "inner-self," in readers, thus promoting empathy for "other" that extended to strangers and previously undervalued citizens. The chapter on torture was also fascinating, as Hunt argued that awareness of inner self led to a belief that our bodies are our own and only we have the right to our own bodies - which created a concrete turn of public opinion toward notions of discipline and torture.

In all, I really loved the perspectives offered in this book and loved how each point was tied to historical fact. Even if you don't agree with the conclusions Hunt draws from those facts, I highly recommend mulling the entire book over!… (more)

Four long essays that outline the state of affairs in history studies at the beginning of the 21st century. Lynn Hunt gives a balanced overview of the successive evolutions. Naturally, she sets her own accents, with a particularly striking plea to take socio-cultural aspects seriously. This is a clear criticism of the Global History movement, which, certainly in its initial phase, viewed history too much from an economic point of view. These essays may require some prior knowledge, but in any case, they are among the better works in overviews of recent historiography. More on that in my History account on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2396103528… (more)