Description
Description
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
A sweeping history of the rise of personal choice in the modern world and how it became equated with freedom
About the Author
About the Author
Sophia Rosenfeld is the Walter H. Annenberg Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of Democracy and Truth: A Short History and Common Sense: A Political History, among other books. Her writing has also appeared in leading publications such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Nation.
Critical Reviews
Critical Reviews
"This first-rate study of choice and freedom will appeal to most history lovers."-- "Library Journal (Starred review)"
"At a time when we are awash with options--indeed, drowning in them--Rosenfeld's analysis of how our modern idea of 'freedom' became bound up in the idea of personal choice feels especially timely, touching on everything from politics to romance."-- "The Millions"
"Historian Sophia Rosenfeld offers a rich, compelling account of how the experience of choosing ceased to be the object of suspicion and condemnation and became instead the hallmark, at least in liberal, democratic societies, of any life worth living."---Stephen Greenblatt, New York Times
"Book reviewers often say a particular work should be 'required reading, ' as if all of us were still subject to syllabi. But you have a choice, dear reader. Are you suspicious of the spread of the language of "choice" from one end of the political spectrum to the other? Are you dissatisfied with the choices on offer? Do you yearn to choose otherwise, or to refuse to choose? Then choose Rosenfeld!"---Henry Cowles, Los Angeles Review of Books
"An immensely informative and engaging account of how the concept took hold, evolved, and spread throughout the world. Drawing on an extraordinary array of sources, Rosenfeld examines the emergence of choice in shopping, romantic life, politics, and human rights declarations; the different implications of choice for women and men; interpretations of choice by psychologists and economists; and the ways in which 'choice architects' have capitalized on, manipulated, and constrained the practice of 'autonomous' decision-making."---Glenn Altschuler, Psychology Today
"With great mastery, [Rosenfeld] traces the enormous changes that have reshaped the Western world, and not only the Western world, over the last two and a half centuries. Combining stylistic verve with analytical acuity, she dissects a series of issues as varied as they are complex within which the concept of choice has changed: from the birth of capitalism to freedom of religious conscience, from consent in sexual relations to universal suffrage... The Age of Choice is anything but a celebration of freedom of choice as unconditional progress. Rather, it highlights the paradoxes and contradictions that have accompanied its almost undisputed triumph."---Francesca Trivellato, Il Sole 24 Ore
"I love this book. I really think this is a great book . . . . She's a very good writer."---Alexandra Schwartz, New Yorker's Critics at Large podcast
"It's a good book. Rosenfeld's a really good writer."---Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker's Critics at Large podcast
Publishing Information
Publishing Information
Publisher:
Princeton University Press
Pub date:
2025-02-04
Length:
480 pages

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