Dr Daniel Koch, Head of History, has just had a book published entitled “Ralph Waldo Emerson in Europe: Class, Race and Revolution in the Making of an American Thinker”.  The book deals with Emerson’s time in Britain as the revolutions of 1848 swept across Europe.  He came into contact with beggars and prostitutes, factory owners, ambassadors, proletarians, parliamentarians, students and clerics.  Emerson also rubbed shoulders with many of the most prominent literary figures of the age, including Dickens, Carlyle and Tennyson.

Dr Koch examines the ways in which Emerson's experience profoundly influenced the future direction of his work on race, slavery and politics during the 1850s and 1860s.  Emerson went on to become an outspoken abolitionist and libertarian, and is considered to be one of the great American thinkers.

Although Emerson may not be a household name in the UK, he is esteemed in the United States and some of his pithy thoughts are well known here as well:

“All I have seen teaches me to trust the creator for all I have not seen.”
“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.”

Reviews for Dr Koch’s book so far have been excellent with Len Gougeon, Distinguished University Fellow and Professor of American Literature, Universityof Scranton, saying: “This could be the most important new study of Emerson in a decade. The scholarship is impressive, the writing is clear and clean, and the intellectual content is genuinely new, important, and enlightening.”

For anyone who thinks they should know more about Emerson, Dr Koch’s book is available at a special offer price of £39.55 in hardback until 31st December. To order online go to www.ibtauris.com and enter the discount code AN2 when prompted.