Spinoza

Ian Buruma is Paul W. Williams Professor of Human Rights and Journalism at Bard College. He is the author of many books, including Murder in Amsterdam: Liberal Europe, Islam and the Limits of Tolerance, and contributes to Harper’s Magazine and the New Yorker. He lives in New York City.

“A brief but forceful entry in Yale’s sprawling Jewish Lives series. . . . Mr. Buruma succeeds admirably in capturing the man as well as the essentials of his thought. Rather than unhappy and isolated, as he’s sometimes been depicted, the stoic Spinoza portrayed here practically glows with serenity and grace.”—Daniel Akst, Wall Street JournalA New Yorker “Best Book of 2024” Selection“Undoubtedly the most readable introduction to Spinoza’s life now available.”—Joe Moshenska, The Guardian“In his new book, Spinoza: Freedom’s Messiah, . . . Buruma observes that ‘intellectual freedom has once again become an important issue, even in countries, such as the United States, that pride themselves on being uniquely free.’”—Adam Kirsch, New Yorker“Ours is a censorious era in which political authoritarianism and intellectual intolerance converge—as in Spinoza’s time. The situation demands a brief, agile, reflective book that recreates Spinoza’s life and work, and builds bridges with the present. We now have such a work.”—Enrique Krauze, Project Syndicate“This highly readable biography contextualises [Spinoza’s] political thinking within an era of great instability and illuminates the ways in which his belief in democracy and rationalism influenced the Enlightenment thinkers to come. A timely book.”—Jewish ChronicleLonglisted for The Wingate Literary Prize 2024, sponsored by The Wingate Foundation“Ian Buruma tells the story of Spinoza’s star-crossed Jewish life engagingly, drawing on his own Dutch background to give it added relief. His jargon-free critique of Spinoza’s philosophy, while placing it in his time, also asks trenchantly what it might say about our time.”—Gary Schwartz, author of Rembrandt in a Red Beret: The Vanishings and Reappearances of a Self-Portrait“Ian Buruma has written a wonderfully lively and instructive introduction to the great philosopher who led a ‘modern Jewish life,’ and whose struggles for freedom of thought provide a model for us today.”—David A. Bell, Princeton University“In this short and splendid book, Ian Buruma incarnates Spinoza as an exceptional human being, but human all the same. His immensely vivid account breathes new life into Spinoza, freeing him from mummified versions of this great man.”—Avishai Margalit, author of On Betrayal