Review:
"[Hecht] brings wit and enthusiasm to her densely packed tale of the freethinking anthropologists, who first knew each other as distraught republicans during the Second Empire." -- Nina C. Ayoub, Chronicle of Higher Education "Hecht is... a very good writer and a brilliant researcher. Highly recommended for all academic libraries." -- Library Journal "A fascinating glimpse of a little-known chapter in French history." -- Publishers Weekly "Hecht has given us a very strong account of the republican scientific vision... This book will be richly rewarding to scholars of the Third Republic, to historians of anti-clericalism and of the social sciences, and even to laymen with an interest in the current round of the nature-nurture culture wars about the genome and evolutionary psychology." -- Martin S. Staum, H-France Book Reviews "Clearly, this is a superb work, one that captures a major moment in French and European thought with thorough scholarship and literary grace. Highly recommended." -- Choice "A comprehensively researched, carefully contextualized, engagingly narrated, and provocatively revelatory book about an underappreciated episode in the history of anthropology and religion." -- George W. Stocking, Journal of Anthropological Research "Jennifer Hecht's endlessly fascinating book...A great gift for that special intellectual history buff in your life." -- The Society of Mutual Autopsy "The often poignant life-histories she recounts...are one of the real pleasures on offer in this wide-ranging, original study of late nineteenth-century French anthropologists." -- Elizabeth Williams, American Historical Review "The book makes a significant contribution and should be of interest not only to historians but to a wider readership interested in the intersection of culture, science, and politics. Hecht has produced a work of impressive erudition." -- Susan Terrio, Anthropological Quarterly "Hecht is a vivid writer with a keen eye for the evocative anecdote and the unexpected interconnection... Hecht's book will make provocative reading for historians of science, religion, and republican politics." -- Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences "The result is a well-researched, persuasive, and engaging contribution to the cultural history of modern France." -- John I. Brooks III, Journal of Modern History
About the Author:
Jennifer Michael Hecht is the author of Doubt: A History and two award-winning books of poetry, The Next Ancient World and Funny. She is a contributor to The New York Times and The Washington Post and is a fellow of the New York Institute for the Humanities.
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