About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherPrinceton University Press

ISBN-100691002339

ISBN-139780691002330

eBay Product ID (ePID)2017740

Product Key Features

Number of Pages256 Pages

Publication NamePoisoned Chalice

LanguageEnglish

SubjectModern / 18th Century, Europe / Western, General, Good & Evil, Europe / General, Christian Rituals & Practice / Sacraments

Publication Year2002

TypeTextbook

AuthorJeffrey Freedman

Subject AreaLaw, Religion, Philosophy, History

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height0.9 in

Item Weight18 Oz

Item Length9.4 in

Item Width6.6 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceCollege Audience

LCCN2001-051040

TitleLeadingA

ReviewsFreedman's detective work takes the reader on an extraordinary journey. He moves with great elegance and skill from the politics of Zurich to the wider world of the German Enlightenment: his book is a tour de force., "Freedman weaves together an erudite cultural history with obvious implications for our own age of commonplace random violence."-- Publishers Weekly, Freedman branches out into the world of ideas, persuasively connecting the debate about the poisoned wine to rationalism to rationalism and the problem of evil, the relationship between Enlightenment and religion, and the interpretation of historical evidence itself. Along the way, however, he never loses grip of a strong narrative thread featuring sinister happenings [and] political intrigue. A Poisoned Chalice is the real thing an elegantly organized and impressively readable book by a talented historian. -- Christopher Tayler, The Sunday Telegraph, "Freedman's witty and well-told story lays out Zurich's bizarre criminal justice system in the context of the era's religious, political and philosophical tensions, and offers fascinating speculations on crime and radical evil." --Lev Raphael, Detroit Free Press, "In addition to exploiting a good mystery's appeal to readers . . . Freedman crafts his story to address serious intellectual issues.... The book that results is both entertaining and intellectually stimulating--imagine, if you will, a Name of the Rose based on real sources."-- Randolph C. Head, Central European History, "Freedman weaves together an erudite cultural history with obvious implications for our own age of commonplace random violence." -- Publishers Weekly, The story itself is a rollicking good one, filled with colorful characters. . . . The author's breezy prose keeps the story rolling along and his narrative choices preserve the mystery of a good whodunit. . . . Freedman's bold interpretation of the Enlightenment and his successful repositioning of arguments about radical evil to the center of debate are breathtaking achievements. They are also, in their implication, profoundly disturbing. -- Mary Lindeman, Journal of Modern History, Freedman branches out into the world of ideas, persuasively connecting the debate about the poisoned wine to rationalism to rationalism and the problem of evil, the relationship between Enlightenment and religion, and the interpretation of historical evidence itself. Along the way, however, he never loses grip of a strong narrative thread featuring sinister happenings [and] political intrigue.A Poisoned Chaliceis the real thing an elegantly organized and impressively readable book by a talented historian. -- Christopher Tayler, The Sunday Telegraph, "Freedman branches out into the world of ideas, persuasively connecting the debate about the poisoned wine to rationalism to rationalism and the problem of evil, the relationship between Enlightenment and religion, and the interpretation of historical evidence itself. Along the way, however, he never loses grip of a strong narrative thread featuring sinister happenings [and] political intrigue. A Poisoned Chalice is the real thing an elegantly organized and impressively readable book by a talented historian."-- Christopher Tayler, The Sunday Telegraph, "This book is an insightful work of microhistory that should rank with Carlo Ginzburg's The Cheese and the Worms and Natalie Zemon Davis's The Return of Martin Guerre ." --Robert Anchor, American Historical Review, This book is an insightful work of microhistory that should rank with Carlo Ginzburg'sThe Cheese and the Wormsand Natalie Zemon Davis'sThe Return of Martin Guerre., This book is an insightful work of microhistory that should rank with Carlo Ginzburg'sThe Cheese and the Wormsand Natalie Zemon Davis'sThe Return of Martin Guerre. -- Robert Anchor, American Historical Review, Freedman branches out into the world of ideas, persuasively connecting the debate about the poisoned wine to rationalism to rationalism and the problem of evil, the relationship between Enlightenment and religion, and the interpretation of historical evidence itself. Along the way, however, he never loses grip of a strong narrative thread featuring sinister happenings [and] political intrigue. A Poisoned Chalice is the real thing an elegantly organized and impressively readable book by a talented historian., This book is an insightful work of microhistory that should rank with Carlo Ginzburg's The Cheese and the Worms and Natalie Zemon Davis's The Return of Martin Guerre ., Freedman's witty and well-told story lays out Zurich's bizarre criminal justice system in the context of the era's religious, political and philosophical tensions, and offers fascinating speculations on crime and radical evil. -- Lev Raphael, Detroit Free Press, "The story itself is a rollicking good one, filled with colorful characters. . . . The author's breezy prose keeps the story rolling along and his narrative choices preserve the mystery of a good whodunit. . . . Freedman's bold interpretation of the Enlightenment and his successful repositioning of arguments about radical evil to the center of debate are breathtaking achievements. They are also, in their implication, profoundly disturbing."-- Mary Lindeman, Journal of Modern History, "Freedman's detective work takes the reader on an extraordinary journey. He moves with great elegance and skill from the politics of Zurich to the wider world of the German Enlightenment: his book is a tour de force." --Joachim Whaley, Times Literary Supplement, This book is an insightful work of microhistory that should rank with Carlo Ginzburg's The Cheese and the Worms and Natalie Zemon Davis's The Return of Martin Guerre . -- Robert Anchor, American Historical Review, The story itself is a rollicking good one, filled with colorful characters. . . . The author's breezy prose keeps the story rolling along and his narrative choices preserve the mystery of a good whodunit. . . . Freedman's bold interpretation of the Enlightenment and his successful repositioning of arguments about radical evil to the center of debate are breathtaking achievements. They are also, in their implication, profoundly disturbing., "In addition to exploiting a good mystery's appeal to readers . . . Freedman crafts his story to address serious intellectual issues.... The book that results is both entertaining and intellectually stimulating--imagine, if you will, a Name of the Rose based on real sources." --Randolph C. Head, Central European History, "Freedman's witty and well-told story lays out Zurich's bizarre criminal justice system in the context of the era's religious, political and philosophical tensions, and offers fascinating speculations on crime and radical evil."-- Lev Raphael, Detroit Free Press, "The story itself is a rollicking good one, filled with colorful characters. . . . The author's breezy prose keeps the story rolling along and his narrative choices preserve the mystery of a good whodunit. . . . Freedman's bold interpretation of the Enlightenment and his successful repositioning of arguments about radical evil to the center of debate are breathtaking achievements. They are also, in their implication, profoundly disturbing." --Mary Lindeman, Journal of Modern History, Mr. Freedman is a historian who has a lively, thought-provoking style, and who is not afraid to risk a judgement. . . . [He] has a real passion for the important issues at stake here., Freedman's detective work takes the reader on an extraordinary journey. He moves with great elegance and skill from the politics of Zurich to the wider world of the German Enlightenment: his book is a tour de force. -- Joachim Whaley, Times Literary Supplement, In addition to exploiting a good mystery's appeal to readers . . . Freedman crafts his story to address serious intellectual issues.... The book that results is both entertaining and intellectually stimulating--imagine, if you will, aName of the Rosebased on real sources. -- Randolph C. Head, Central European History, Freedman's witty and well-told story lays out Zurich's bizarre criminal justice system in the context of the era's religious, political and philosophical tensions, and offers fascinating speculations on crime and radical evil., "Mr. Freedman is a historian who has a lively, thought-provoking style, and who is not afraid to risk a judgement. . . . [He] has a real passion for the important issues at stake here."-- Nigel Williams, Daily Telegraph, Mr. Freedman is a historian who has a lively, thought-provoking style, and who is not afraid to risk a judgement. . . . [He] has a real passion for the important issues at stake here. -- Nigel Williams, Daily Telegraph, Freedman weaves together an erudite cultural history with obvious implications for our own age of commonplace random violence. -- Publishers Weekly, "This book is an insightful work of microhistory that should rank with Carlo Ginzburg's The Cheese and the Worms and Natalie Zemon Davis's The Return of Martin Guerre ."-- Robert Anchor, American Historical Review, Freedman weaves together an erudite cultural history with obvious implications for our own age of commonplace random violence., "Freedman branches out into the world of ideas, persuasively connecting the debate about the poisoned wine to rationalism to rationalism and the problem of evil, the relationship between Enlightenment and religion, and the interpretation of historical evidence itself. Along the way, however, he never loses grip of a strong narrative thread featuring sinister happenings [and] political intrigue. A Poisoned Chalice is the real thing an elegantly organized and impressively readable book by a talented historian." --Christopher Tayler, The Sunday Telegraph, In addition to exploiting a good mystery's appeal to readers . . . Freedman crafts his story to address serious intellectual issues.... The book that results is both entertaining and intellectually stimulating -- imagine, if you will, a Name of the Rose based on real sources., In addition to exploiting a good mystery's appeal to readers . . . Freedman crafts his story to address serious intellectual issues.... The book that results is both entertaining and intellectually stimulating--imagine, if you will, a Name of the Rose based on real sources. -- Randolph C. Head, Central European History, "Freedman's detective work takes the reader on an extraordinary journey. He moves with great elegance and skill from the politics of Zurich to the wider world of the German Enlightenment: his book is a tour de force."-- Joachim Whaley, Times Literary Supplement, "Mr. Freedman is a historian who has a lively, thought-provoking style, and who is not afraid to risk a judgement. . . . [He] has a real passion for the important issues at stake here." --Nigel Williams, Daily Telegraph, In addition to exploiting a good mystery's appeal to readers . . . Freedman crafts his story to address serious intellectual issues.... The book that results is both entertaining and intellectually stimulating--imagine, if you will, a Name of the Rose based on real sources.

Dewey Edition21

IllustratedYes

Dewey Decimal364.15/23/0949457

SynopsisA Poisoned Chalice tells the story of a long-forgotten criminal case: the poisoning of the communion wine in Zurich's main cathedral in 1776. The story is riveting and mysterious, full of bizarre twists and colorful characters--an anti-clerical gravedigger, a hard-drinking drifter, a defrocked minister--who come to life in a series of dramatic criminal trials. But it is also far more than just a good story. In the wider world of German-speaking Europe, writes Jeffrey Freedman, the affair became a cause célèbre, the object of a lively public debate that focused on an issue much on the minds of intellectuals in the age of Enlightenment: the problem of evil. Contemporaries were unable to ascribe any rational motive to an attempt to poison hundreds of worshippers. Such a crime pointed beyond reason to moral depravity so radical it seemed diabolic. By following contemporaries as they struggled to comprehend an act of inscrutable evil, this book brings to life a key episode in the history of the German Enlightenment--an episode in which the Enlightenment was forced to interrogate the very limits of reason itself. Twentieth-century horrors have familiarized us with the type of evil that so shocked the men and women of the eighteenth century. Does this familiarity give us any special insight into the affair of the poisoned chalice? In its final chapter, the book takes up this question, reflecting on the nature of historical knowledge through an imaginary dialogue with Enlightenment-era interlocutors. But it does not reach any definitive conclusion about what happened in the Zurich cathedral in 1776. To search for the truth about such a mystery is merely to extend a dialogue begun in the eighteenth century, and that dialogue is as open-ended as the process of Enlightenment itself., A Poisoned Chalice tells the story of a long-forgotten criminal case: the poisoning of the communion wine in Zurich's main cathedral in 1776. The story is riveting and mysterious, full of bizarre twists and colorful characters--an anti-clerical gravedigger, a hard-drinking drifter, a defrocked minister--who come to life in a series of dramatic criminal trials. But it is also far more than just a good story. In the wider world of German-speaking Europe, writes Jeffrey Freedman, the affair became a cause c l bre, the object of a lively public debate that focused on an issue much on the minds of intellectuals in the age of Enlightenment: the problem of evil. Contemporaries were unable to ascribe any rational motive to an attempt to poison hundreds of worshippers. Such a crime pointed beyond reason to moral depravity so radical it seemed diabolic. By following contemporaries as they struggled to comprehend an act of inscrutable evil, this book brings to life a key episode in the history of the German Enlightenment--an episode in which the Enlightenment was forced to interrogate the very limits of reason itself. Twentieth-century horrors have familiarized us with the type of evil that so shocked the men and women of the eighteenth century. Does this familiarity give us any special insight into the affair of the poisoned chalice? In its final chapter, the book takes up this question, reflecting on the nature of historical knowledge through an imaginary dialogue with Enlightenment-era interlocutors. But it does not reach any definitive conclusion about what happened in the Zurich cathedral in 1776. To search for the truth about such a mystery is merely to extend a dialogue begun in the eighteenth century, and that dialogue is as open-ended as the process of Enlightenment itself., A Poisoned Chalice tells the story of a long-forgotten criminal case: the poisoning of the communion wine in Zurich's main cathedral in 1776. The story is riveting and mysterious, full of bizarre twists and colorful characters - an anti-clerical gravedigger, a hard-drinking drifter, a defrocked minister - who come to life in a series of dramatic criminal trials. But it is also far more than just a good story. In the wider world of German-speaking Europe, writes Jeffrey Freedman, the affair became a cause celebre, the object of a lively public debate that focused on an issue much on the minds of intellectuals in the age of Englightenment: the problem of evil. Contemporaries were unable to ascribe any rational motive to an attempt to poison hundreds of worshippers. Such a crime pointed beyond reason to moral depravity so radical it seemed diabolic. By following contemporaries as they struggled to comprehend an act of inscrutable evil, this book brings to life a key episode in the history of the German Enlightenment - an episode in which the Enlightenment was forced to interrogate the very limits of reason itself.Twentieth-century horrors have familiarized us with the type of evil that so shocked the men and women of the eighteenth century. Does this familiarity give us any special insight into the affair of the poisoned chalice? In its final chapter, the book takes up this question, reflecting on the nature of historical knowledge through an imaginary dialogue with Enlightenment-era interlocutors. But it does not reach any definitive conclusion about what happened in the Zurich cathedral in 1776. To search for the truth about such a mystery is merely to extend a dialogue begun in the eighteenth century, and that dialogue is as open-ended as the process of Enlightenment itself., Tells the story of a long-forgotten criminal case: the poisoning of the communion wine in Zurich's main cathedral in 1776. This work shows how this affair became a cause celebre, the object of a lively public debate that focused on an issue much on the minds of intellectuals in the age of Enlightenment: the problem of evil.

LC Classification NumberB2621.F74 2002