The Solitary Self

In this final volume of his biographical trilogy, Maurice Cranston traces the last tempestuous years of Rousseau's life. Unerringly faithful to the evidence, Cranston's narrative allows Rousseau and his contemporaries to speak with renewed vigor and undistorted voice. From his brilliant authorship of the "Confessions," the "Dialogues," and the "Reveries" to his ill-fated sojourn in Britain, from his infamous public quarrel with David Hume to his clandestine return to France, from his unsettled wanderings to his eventual death in 1778 - these and other critical events in Rousseau's fading career are detailed in this balanced portrait. In 1762, with the condemnation of "Emile" and "The Social Contract," harried by both church and state, Jean-Jacques Rousseau fled Paris, seeking refuge in Switzerland, Prussia, and England. Deemed a social outcast and beset with feelings of persecution and abuse, not wholly unwarranted, the philosopher turned in despair to the production of autobiographical works intended to reveal his essential innocence and integrity. Through this bitter introspection, Rousseau transformed his misery and solitude into some of the most enduring literature of his time.