William Marx holds the Chair of Comparative Literature at the College de France.

'It would be tempting to regard Marx's book as an equivalent record of a vanishing phenomenon, and indeed he refers to Freud as one of the last "men of letters" in Western culture. Melancholy is, of course, a condition to which scholars are especially prone (as discussed in the chapter on the subject), and an existential consequence of devoting one's life to the temporary resurrection of a lost past. But Marx's own learning, while lightly worn as decorum requires, is clearly the fruit of such devotion. This excellent, hugely informative book makes a quietly eloquent and timely case against the culture of a fundamentalism that looks set to provide limitless access to books, but threatens to destroy the conditions that create the people who know how to read them.' - Ann Jefferson, The Times Literary Supplement

• I BirthII The BodyIII GenderIV ScheduleV EducationVI The ExaminationVII The StudyVIII EconomyIX The HomeX The GardenXI The AnimalXII SexualityXIII FoodXIV MelancholyXV The SoulXVI ReligionXVII QuarrelXVIII The AcademyXIX PoliticsXX WarXXI The CoronationXXII The IslandXXIII The NightXXIV Death NotesBibliographyIndex

William Marx holds the Chair of Comparative Literature at the College de France.

'It would be tempting to regard Marx's book as an equivalent record of a vanishing phenomenon, and indeed he refers to Freud as one of the last "men of letters" in Western culture. Melancholy is, of course, a condition to which scholars are especially prone (as discussed in the chapter on the subject), and an existential consequence of devoting one's life to the temporary resurrection of a lost past. But Marx's own learning, while lightly worn as decorum requires, is clearly the fruit of such devotion. This excellent, hugely informative book makes a quietly eloquent and timely case against the culture of a fundamentalism that looks set to provide limitless access to books, but threatens to destroy the conditions that create the people who know how to read them.' - Ann Jefferson, The Times Literary Supplement

• I BirthII The BodyIII GenderIV ScheduleV EducationVI The ExaminationVII The StudyVIII EconomyIX The HomeX The GardenXI The AnimalXII SexualityXIII FoodXIV MelancholyXV The SoulXVI ReligionXVII QuarrelXVIII The AcademyXIX PoliticsXX WarXXI The CoronationXXII The IslandXXIII The NightXXIV Death NotesBibliographyIndex