Nothing is an Accident

‘Majestic, ambitious’ Literary Review<BR> ____________________________________ <BR><BR>We are endlessly fascinated by the French. We are fascinated by their way of life, their creativity and sophistication, and even their insistence that they are exceptional. But how did France become the country it is today, and what really sets it apart?<BR><BR> Historian Peter Watson sets out to answer these questions in this dazzling history of France, taking us from the seventeenth century to the present day through the nation’s most influential thinkers. He opens the doors to the Renaissance salons that brought together poets, philosophers and scientists, and tells the forgotten stories of the extraordinary women who ran these institutions, fostering a culture of stylish intellectualism unmatched anywhere else in the world. It’s a story that takes us into Bohemian cafés and cabarets, into chic Parisian high culture via French philosophies of food, fashion and sex, and through two explosive revolutions.<BR><BR>The French Mind is a history propelled by the writers, revolutionaries and painters who loved, inspired and rivalled one another over four hundred years. It documents the shaping of a nation whose global influence, in art, culture and politics, cannot be overstated.<BR> __________________________________________<BR><BR> ‘An encyclopaedic celebration of French intellectuals refusing to give up on universal principles, while remaining slim, bringing up well-behaved children and falling in love at every opportunity’ The Times<BR><BR> 'An engaging movement through time towards France's recent reckonings with extremism, exceptionalism and empire' TLS<BR><BR>  

'Extensive and intelligent . . . a guide to the nature of British intellectual curiosity' SpectatorThe reign of Queen Elizabeth I ushered in an unprecedented age of exploration and discovery. Over 500 years that saw  'the greatest expansion of ideas and knowledge the world has ever seen', a small island nation, for centuries a cultural backwater, asserted itself as a world power. Breathtaking in scope, embracing literature, science, art, religion, philosophy and politics, The British Imagination brings to life those centuries between Elizabeth I and II, and asks the provocative question - are we still living in a British 'metaphysical empire'?From the acclaimed author of The German Genius and The French Mind, this is a lively and deeply researched history of the most influential personalities and ideas that made modern Britain. 'Intriguing insights about the contemporary Anglosphere . . . nuanced and appreciative' Financial Times'Peter Watson has form when it comes to probing a nation's psyche . . . Ambitious and stimulating' Country Life<BR> <BR> <BR><BR> 

Deutsche Ideen, deutscher Geist und deutsche Ideologien haben das Weltgeschehen maßgeblich beeinflusst und geprägt. Peter Watson zeichnet diese Entwicklung von der Mitte des 18. Jahr hunderts bis zur Gegenwart nach und ergründet Ursprung und Wesen des 'Deutschen Genius'. Philosophie und Literatur, Musik und Malerei, Wissenschaft und Technik - Watson bietet eine beeindruckende Gesamtschau deutschen Geisteslebens von Lessing bis Mann, von Humboldt bis Benz, von Kant bis Habermas, von Schleiermacher bis Ratzinger, von Bach bis Henze, von Friedrich bis Beuys. Eine faszinierende Kultur- und Ideengeschichte.

From the end of the Baroque age and the death of Bach in 1750 to the rise of Hitler in 1933, Germany was transformed from a poor relation among western nations into a dominant intellectual and cultural force more influential than France, Britain, Italy, Holland, and the United States. In the early decades of the 20th century, German artists, writers, philosophers, scientists, and engineers were leading their freshly-unified country to new and undreamed of heights, and by 1933, they had won more Nobel prizes than anyone else and more than the British and Americans combined. But this genius was cut down in its prime with the rise and subsequent fall of Adolf Hitler and his fascist Third Reich-a legacy of evil that has overshadowed the nation's contributions ever since. <BR><BR>Yet how did the Germans achieve their pre-eminence beginning in the mid-18th century? In this fascinating cultural history, Peter Watson goes back through time to explore the origins of the German genius, how it flourished and shaped our lives, and, most importantly, to reveal how it continues to shape our world. As he convincingly demonstarates, while we may hold other European cultures in higher esteem, it was German thinking-from Bach to Nietzsche to Freud-that actually shaped modern America and Britain in ways that resonate today.

“Those seeking a grand overview of science’s greatest hits over the past century will find it here.” —The Washington Post<BR> <BR>From the bestselling author of Ideas and The Modern Mind comes a bold history of science offering a groundbreaking and powerful argument: the many disparate scientific disciplines are converging on the same truths.<BR><BR>Convergence is a history of modern science with an original and significant twist. Various scientific disciplines, despite their very different beginnings, have been coming together over the years, converging and coalescing. Intimate connections have been discovered between physics and chemistry, psychology and biology, genetics and linguistics. In this groundbreaking book, Peter Watson identifies one extraordinary master narrative, capturing how the sciences are slowly resolving into one overwhelming, interlocking story about the universe.<BR> <BR>Watson begins his narrative in the 1850s, the decade when, he argues, the convergence of the sciences began. The idea of the conservation of energy was introduced in this decade, as was Darwin’s theory of evolution—both of which rocketed the sciences forward and revealed unimagined interconnections and overlaps between disciplines. Decade after decade, the story captures every major scientific advance en route to the present, proceeding like a cosmic detective story, or the world’s most massive code-breaking effort.<BR> <BR>“Fascinating…Highly recommended…Watson treats biology, chemistry, and physics as entangled plotlines, and readers’ excitement will build as more connections are made” (Library Journal, starred review). Told through the eyes of the scientists themselves, charting each discovery and breakthrough, Convergence is a “massive tour de force” (Publishers Weekly) and a gripping way to learn what we now know about the universe and where our inquiries are heading.

250 Jahre Ideengeschichte im Zeitraffer vom berühmten britischen Historiker und Bestsellerautor Peter WatsonDeutsche Ideen, deutscher Geist und deutsche Ideologien haben das Weltgeschehen maßgeblich beeinflusst und geprägt. Peter Watson zeichnet diese Entwicklung von der Mitte des 18. Jahrhunderts bis zur Gegenwart nach und ergründet Ursprung und Wesen des 'Deutschen Genius'. Philosophie und Literatur, Musik und Malerei, Wissenschaft und Technik - Watson bietet eine beeindruckende Gesamtschau deutschen Geisteslebens von Lessing bis Mann, von Humboldt bis Benz, von Kant bis Habermas, von Schleiermacher bis Papst Benedikt, von Bach bis Henze, von Friedrich bis Beuys. Eine faszinierende Kultur- und Ideengeschichte vom Autor von 'Das Lächeln der Medusa' und 'Ideen'. - Analyse von Deutschlands Einfluss auf die Geistesgeschichte der Neuzeit aus Sicht eines englischen Historikers- 'Watsons Geschichte vibriert vor Leben. Man legt sie nur schwer beiseite.' Frankfurter Rundschau- Vom Barock bis zur Gegenwart, von Kant, Humboldt, Marx, Clausius, Mendel, Nietzsche, Planck, Freud, Einstein bis Weber