eBook

The ends of life : roads to fulfilment in early modern England

Thomas, Keith

2009

Overview

How should we live? That question was no less urgent for English men and women who lived between the early sixteenth and late eighteenth centuries than for this book's readers. Keith Thomas's masterly exploration of the ways in which people sought to lead fulfilling lives in those centuries between the beginning of the Reformation and the heyday of the Enlightenment illuminates the central values of the period, while casting incidental light on some of the perennial problems of human existence. Consideration of the origins of the modern ideal of human fulfilment and of obstacles to its realization in the early modern period frames an investigation that ranges from work, wealth, and possessions to the pleasures of friendship, family, and sociability. The cult of military prowess, the pursuit of honour and reputation, the nature of religious belief and scepticism, and the desire to be posthumously remembered are all drawn into the discussion, and the views and practices of ordinary people are measured against the opinions of the leading philosophers and theologians of the time. The Ends of Life offers a fresh approach to the history of early modern England, by one of the foremost historians of our time. It also provides modern readers with much food for thought on the problem of how we should live and what goals in life we should pursue.

• Publisher: Oxford University Press,Oxford University Press, Incorporated
• Subject: 16th century / 17th century / 18th century / Americas (North, Central, South, West Indies) / British & Irish history / British History / Civilization / Early modern history / England / England -- Civilization -- 16th century / England -- Civilization -- 17th century / England -- Civilization -- 18th century / Europe / Great Britain / HISTORY / History of religion / History of the Americas / Identity / Life skills / Life skills -- England -- History -- 16th century / Life skills -- England -- History -- 17th century / Life skills -- England -- History -- 18th century / RELIGION / Self / Self-realization / Self-realization -- England -- History -- 16th century / Self-realization -- England -- History -- 17th century / Self-realization -- England -- History -- 18th century / Skills / Social life and customs / United Kingdom / US Cultural History
• ISBN: 0199247234, 9780199247233