Document Type
Book Review
Program
History (Pitzer)
Publication Date
6-2010
Keywords
Enlightenment, Germany, Culture
Abstract
This is a book review of The Science of Culture in Enlightenment Germany, by Michael C. Carhart. It is an entertaining book. Its chapters are organized around a series of vignettes: Carsten Niebuhr on camelback negotiating with his Bedouin guides; feral French children skinning rabbits with their bare hands; English gentlemen in Syrian deserts; Captian Cooks lieutenants carving "steaks" from teh severed heads of war victims. In case you've lost your bearings, let me assure you that The Science of Culture in Enlightenment Germany is indeed about Enlightenment Germany. But as the structure of the chapters suggests, Michael Carhart wants to emphasize Germany's myriad connections to the wider world. In other words, eighteenth-century German debates over culture and enlightenment were much more than merely German debates.
Rights Information
© 2010 Conference Group for Central European History of the American Historical Association
DOI
10.1017/S0008938910000117
Recommended Citation
Wakefield, Andre. "Review: The Science of Culture in Enlightenment Germany, by Michael C. Carhart." Central European History 43.2 (2010): 351-52. doi: 10.1017/S0008938910000117
