| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 108.2

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| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 108.2 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Europe: Early Modern and Modern

Julia V. Douthwaite. The Wild Girl, Natural Man and the Monster: Dangerous Experiments in the Age of Enlightenment. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 2002. Pp. xiii, 314. $19.00.

Much modern thought about human nature has its roots in the Enlightenment. Although the intervening discovery of biological evolution has also profoundly affected our notions of humanity, discussions of how education and society shape people are still largely framed in terms bequeathed to us by the thinkers of the eighteenth century. Aspects of this legacy are brought out particularly well in Julia V. Douthwaite's book, which examines writings about human nature in France—and to some extent also in Britain—during the period. Enlightenment authors focused on how inheritance, upbringing, and social life influenced mental attributes and personal character. The central issues were the potential of human beings for perfectibility and what this implied for programs of educational and social reform. . . .

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