French Literature Reviews - 2026

Z. Sternhell, N. Weill, History and the Enlightenment – Changing the World Through Reason
History, Politics and Society

History and the Enlightenment: Changing the World Through Reason
Zeev Sternhell, Nicolas Weill

PUBLICATION DATE: 07/05/14 PUBLISHER: Albin Michel (Editions) SERIES: Itinéraires du savoir ISBN: 978-2-226-24631-8 EAN: 9782226246318 FORMAT: Paperback NO. OF PAGES: 365 p.

A world-renowned intellectual, deeply attached to French language and culture, Zeev Sternhell nevertheless remains in many respects unknown to the general public, given the diverse geographical scope of his career spanning France, Israel, and the United States. He also belongs to that generation of 20th-century historians who experienced firsthand the horrors of the Second World War. As he himself often recalled, the city of Przemysl in Polish Galicia, where he was born in 1935, was on the front lines of Operation Barbarossa.

It was only later revealed that he was a child survivor of the Holocaust, in which many of his family members perished. The interviews collected in this volume trace the remarkably eventful trajectory of his life in detail. A man of archives, wide-ranging reading, and a polyglot, Zeev Sternhell firmly established himself as a historian of ideas, fiercely determined to rehabilitate a discipline that has surprisingly fallen into disrepute in France.

Does believing in the driving force of ideas—whether good or bad—not restore full meaning to what we call not only intellectual commitment, but also intellectual responsibility? Whether through his outspoken stances on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Jewish state, American neoconservatism, or Marxism, Zeev Sternhell has never cared for passing trends, maintaining a sharp and unwavering focus on the most pressing contemporary issues.

Another facet of his work—his editorials and opinion pieces in the press—abundantly demonstrates this. It was high time to revisit his unique life and oeuvre.

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An article on this book can be read on the nonfiction.fr website:

The intellectual history of the twentieth century has often been shaped by scholars who navigated multiple cultural and linguistic landscapes. Zeev Sternhell’s career, which spanned France, Israel, and the United States, reflects this transnational experience. As a historian of ideas, he sought to restore the significance of intellectual inquiry within the broader study of history, a field that has faced varying levels of academic scrutiny in France.

Sternhell’s work emphasizes the role of ideas in shaping political reality. This volume collects interviews that trace his life and career, including his perspectives on Marxism, neoconservatism, and contemporary political issues. Readers interested in the evolution of political thought and the responsibilities of the public intellectual may find this work relevant.

"The Journey of a Historian of Political Ideas", by D. Augias.