{"product_id":"biography-of-a-dangerous-idea-a-new-history-of-race-from-louis-xiv-to-thomas-jefferson-9781635422245","title":"Biography of a Dangerous Idea: A New History of Race from Louis XIV to Thomas Jefferson","description":"\u003cb\u003eAn engaging investigation of how thirteen key Enlightenment figures shaped the concept of race, from the acclaimed author of \u003ci\u003eDiderot and the Art of Thinking Freely\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOver the course of the eighteenth century, Enlightenment natural historians and classifiers redefined what it meant to be human. By 1800, they had recast the very idea of humankind, sorting the world's peoples into rigid biological categories for the first time in history. Prize-winning biographer Andrew S. Curran retraces this often-misunderstood story by plunging into the lives and ideas of the most influential individuals behind this reconceptualization, among them Louis XIV, Voltaire, David Hume, Immanuel Kant, and Thomas Jefferson. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMoving from the gilded halls of Versailles to the slave plantations of the Caribbean, from the court of the Mughal Empire to the drawing rooms of Monticello, \u003ci\u003eBiography of a Dangerous Idea\u003c\/i\u003e not only reveals the Enlightenment's entanglement with empire and oppression--it offers a bold reassessment of the era's most celebrated luminaries.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Andrew S. Curran\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Other Press (NY)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/02\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 512\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.86lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.18h x 6.28w x 1.66d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781635422245\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/15\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/08\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/01\/2026 pg. 64\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAndrew S. Curran\u003c\/b\u003e is the William Armstrong Professor of the Humanities at Wesleyan University. A scholar and biographer, his writing has appeared in the\u003ci\u003e New York Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e, the\u003ci\u003e New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eNewsweek\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eTIME\u003c\/i\u003e, the\u003ci\u003e Paris Review\u003c\/i\u003e, and the\u003ci\u003e Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e. He is also the author or editor of five books. His most recent, edited with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., is \u003ci\u003eWho's Black and Why?\u003c\/i\u003e His previous book was the prize-winning biography \u003ci\u003eDiderot and the Art of Thinking Freely\u003c\/i\u003e (Other Press, 2019).\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"booksdeli.com","offers":[{"title":"Andrew S. Curran \/ Hardcover \/ English","offer_id":47659098898589,"sku":"9781635422245","price":59.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0619\/5648\/9373\/files\/img_34907e35-5ed8-4902-bbce-305890acdb03.jpg?v=1771349995","url":"https:\/\/booksdeli.com\/products\/biography-of-a-dangerous-idea-a-new-history-of-race-from-louis-xiv-to-thomas-jefferson-9781635422245","provider":"booksdeli.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}