The Age of Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, was an influential period, which took place during the 18th century, and was named by the writers of the movement. The Enlightenment developed in France with Voltaire and Rousseau, but it also had writers like Locke and Hume in Great Britain, with writers like Jefferson, Washington, Franklin, and Paine in America. Read more about The Enlightenment.
1. Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment 1670-1815
by Alan Charles Kors (Editor). Oxford University Press. From the publisher: "Designed and organized for ease of use, its special features include more than 700 signed articles; annotated bibliographies following each article to guide further study; an extensive system of cross-references; a synoptic outline of contents; a comprehensive topical index providing easy access to networks of related articles; and high quality illustrations, including photographs, line drawings, and maps."
2. Portable Enlightenment Reader
by Isaac Kramnick (Editor). Penguin. From the publisher: "This volume brings together the era's classic works, with more than a hundred selections from a broad range of sources--including works by Kant, Diderot, Voltaire, Newton, Rousseau, Locke, Franklin, Jefferson, Madison, and Paine--that demonstrate the pervasive impact of Enlightenment views on philosophy and epistemology as well as on political, social, and economic institutions."3. Creation of the Modern World: The Untold Story of the British Enlightenment
by Roy Porter. Norton. From the publisher: "This engagingly written new work highlights Britain's long-underestimated and pivotal role in disseminating the ideas and culture of the Enlightenment. Moving beyond the numerous histories centered on France and Germany, the acclaimed social historian Roy Porter explains how monumental changes in thinking in Britain influenced worldwide developments."4. The Enlightenment Reader
by Paul Hyland (Editor), Olga Gomez (Editor), and Francesca Greensides (Editor). Routledge. From the publisher: "The Enlightenment Reader brings together the work of major Enlightenment thinkers to illustrate the full importance and achievements of this period in history."5. Enlightenment
by John M. Dunn. Gale Group. From the publisher: "Discusses various aspects of the Enlightenment including its roots, philosophes, attacks on Christianity, revolt against reason, campaigns to reform society, and legacy."6. Narratives of Enlightenment
by Karen O'Brien, Howard Erskine-Hill (Editor), and John Richetti (Editor). Cambridge University Press. From the publisher: "'Narratives of Enlightenment' examines the literary and historical achievements of major figures such as Voltaire, David Hume, William Robertson, Edward Gibbon and the American historian David Ramsay in the light of eighteenth-century political and national debates in France, Scotland, England and America."7. Enlightenment: A Brief History with Documents
by Maragret C. Jacob. St. Martin's Press. From the publisher: "A variety of selections showcase the writings of a number of Enlightenment figures, including Locke, Rousseau, Mary Wortley Montagu, Diderot, and Moses Mendelssohn. A comprehensive introduction reaches back to the roots of the movement to set up critical background on the political and social debates of the period."8. Domestic Revolution: Enlightenment Feminisms and the Novel
by Eve Tavor Bannet. Johns Hopkins University Press. From the publisher: "Bannet examines the works of women writers who fell into two distinct camps: 'Matriarchs' such as Eliza Haywood, Maria Edgeworth, and Hannah More argued that women had a superiority of sense and virtue over men and needed to take control of the family."9. The American Enlightenment, 1750-1820
by Robert A. Ferguson. Harvard University Press. From the publisher: "This concise literary history of the American Enlightenment captures the varied and conflicting voices of religious and political conviction in the decades when the new nation was formed. Ferguson's trenchant interpretation yields new understanding of this pivotal period for American culture."10. Race and the Enlightenment: A Reader
by Emmanuel Chukwudi Eze. Blackwell Publishers. From the publisher: "Emmanuel Chukwudi Eze collects into one convenient and controversial volume the most important and influential writings on race that the European Enlightenment produced."