At the very time that industrialists, inventors, statesmen, and natural scientists were conquering new objective worlds, Gay writes, "the secret life of the self had...

At the very time that industrialists, inventors, statesmen, and natural scientists were conquering new objective worlds, Gay writes, "the secret life of the self had grown into a favorite and wholly serious indoor sport."

Following the middle class's preoccupation with inwardness through its varied cultural expressions (such as fiction, art, history, and autobiography), Gay turns also to the letters and confessional diaries of both obscure and prominent men and women. These revealing documents help to round out a sparkling portrait of an age.

Author: Peter Gay
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 10/17/1996
Pages: 472
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.55lbs
Size: 9.23h x 6.16w x 0.94d
ISBN: 9780393315158


Review Citation(s):
New York Times 01/05/1997 pg. 28
Publishers Weekly 09/23/1996

About the Author
Gay, Peter: - Peter Gay (1923--2015) was the author of more than twenty-five books, including the National Book Award winner The Enlightenment, the best-selling Weimar Culture, and the widely translated Freud: A Life for Our Time.