Reviews for Encyclopedie

The average rating for Encyclopedie based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-11-21 00:00:00 James Steel Fascinating and engrossing, this is not only informative about the vicissitudes surrounding the publication of that 'brilliant beacon, a turning-point in history', Diderot and d'Alembert's Encyclopedia, but is also visually delightful. It is richly illustrated with etchings from the eighteenth century original, which demonstrate beautifully the care taken over every detail of; tradesmen's tools; production methods; arts; antiquities; natural phenomena; surgery; skills. It was truly an attempt to be exhaustive. Blom is a historian with a narrative gift: he sustains interest with that time-honoured trick of indicating the enormous repercussions of the incident that is about to be narrated, as in 'another legal case that shook France and almost convinced him (Diderot) to flee overnight..', then going on to tell the disturbing tale of the teenager accused of blasphemy, Chevalier de la Barre. Blom involves the reader by bringing the characters to life, getting them up and moving, showing their different temperaments and the ensuing disputes and disagreements among them. Rousseau comes off badly, as paranoid and selfish with a talent for alienating those who would help him, and Voltaire is a cunning old fox with an eye to the main chance. Diderot does rather take centre stage, but then he would, he loved the limelight and was dismissive of the plodding Chevalier de Jaucourt who laboured unflaggingly in the background, and the alternating vanity and modesty of an insecure d'Alembert, whom Diderot blamed for the near failure of the venture after the enormous controversy over d'Alembert's imprudent article about Geneva. The main question, of course, is how all the volumes were ever produced in the face of censorship, and critical attacks over plagiarism, licentiousness, moral danger, blasphemy and plain inaccuracy, in face of the disagreements between the main editors and the sheer amount of time and work it demanded, so that even the most idealistic of enlighteners might begin to feel the game was not worth the candle. Blom makes a credible case for the commercial factor, as the publishers had invested too much to let it fold: too big to fail. And Diderot is presented as a man of honour. He will fulfill his promise, at enormous personal cost. In the end, poor Diderot, shocked at the mutilation of many articles by a publisher who was concerned that the censors would put an end to everything, felt that he had failed. But what comes through this whole narrative is the negotiation and compromise that must inevitably accompany an undertaking of such breadth and danger. Diderot may have had a different vision, and the reality may have fallen short for him, but posterity acknowledges the ground-shaking significance of his magnificent work.

Review # 2 was written on 2018-05-09 00:00:00 Joe Smith Very well-written, novelistic history of how Diderot's Encyclopedie came into being, full of fascinating personalities and every imaginable plot twist.