British Romanticism and the Critique of Political Reason

"An ambitious and illuminating book that will undoubtedly shape the future course of Romanticism studies. And, given the current political climate in the United States and around the globe, the questions it asks are immensely relevant to discourse beyond literary criticism."

"It is received wisdom that the Romantics were critics of reason. What is not so well-known, and what this book shows, is that they undertook its critique in the radical Kantian sense. They did so in hopes of renewing reason as a means for generating political knowledge, a task which brought together writers whose apparent political affiliations were very different. Michael has made a valuable contribution to our understanding of the political–philosophical ambitions of a generation too often remembered only for its poetry."

"Underlying the scrupulous research is [Michael's] own belief in 'the legitimacy of political knowledge': a kind of learning from inquiry that is not identical with mastery of the theories of government or mere position-taking.... British Romanticism and the Critique of Political Reason will be read... with absorbing interest by scholars of an earlier period who may have imagined that the eighteenth century concluded on or about the year 1789."

"In this trailblazing study, Timothy Michael proves to be in absolute, sovereign command of his multifarious material. He is, in the best sense, himself a political thinker and a discerning critical mind. Michael displays what was once defined as the only secret of style: have something to say and say it as clearly as you can. This is a landmark publication."

"Romanticists, intellectual historians, and philosophers will benefit immensely from Michael's work."

"Ambitious, well executed, and timely, this book provides valuable insight into some of the most abiding questions of Romantic studies."

"A compelling and timely argument about the contested relationship between reason and politics in British Romanticism... Michael's argument not only recovers the world and language of the Romantics, but also speaks directly to contemporary issues in politics across the globe."

"A thoughtful, rigorous book written in a pleasingly clear manner.... Michael's philosophical criticism offers an exciting attempt to rethink the field."

"The publication of Timothy Michael's British Romanticism and the Critique of Political Reason represents a landmark in the study of British Romantic literature."

"A sophisticated and ambitious bookMichael's account genuinely offers a new account of British Romanticism."

"Here is the basis for an argument about the ongoing importance of literature in our lives, and why it cannot be studied separately from other areas of knowledge, since it is itself a vehicle for knowledge's creation and modification."

"Not the least of the strengths of this work is the lucidity of its author’s style: the clarity with which he presents and prosecutes his thesis, summarizes or elaborates particular intellectual positions and debates as he sets out their bearings on his discussion, adds considerably to the force of his insights."

"A stimulating study, not least in providing a new frame through which to interpret British Romanticism."

"In this ambitious and frequently brilliant book traversing the fields of intellectual and literary history and formal analysis, Michael explores the Kantian strand within British Romanticism's critique of political reason developed in the wake of the French Revolution."

"A lucid, erudite study."

"A fascinating, philosophically accomplished, and beautifully produced book."

"The book represents an exemplary and major contribution to Romantic studies... Readers of intellectual history, the history of ideas, the German Enlightenment, and those interested in the history of British, and to a lesser extent European, politics [will] find much to admire, cherish, and inspire in these pages."

"Michael offers extraordinary insights into many other matters, including the philosophy of Shelley, Coleridge and Kant... Deserve[s] a place on the bookshelf on anyone interested in British politics, American history, the history of India, philosophy (both ancient and 18th/19th century), poetry, the development of ideas and much else."

"British Romanticism and the Critique of Political Reason will be read in any case with absorbing interest by scholars of an earlier period who may have imagined that the eighteenth century concluded on or about the year 1789."

"The publication of Timothy Michael's British Romanticism and the Critique of Political Reason represents a landmark in the study of British Romantic literature."