| Book Review | Journal of World History, 17.2

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| Book Review | Journal of World History, 17.2 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Against the Modern World: Traditionalism and the Secret Intellectual History of the Twentieth Century. By MARK SEDGWICK. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. 370 pp. $37.50 (cloth).

Readers seeking a discussion of Traditionalist thought itself will be disappointed by Mark Sedgwick's recent publication. As a historical treatment of an intellectual movement, however, Sedgwick does a competent job of situating this largely unnoticed refutation of modernity. Traditionalism may be briefly defined as a loose movement eschewing conventional Western values in favor of Orientalist religious wisdom and tradition, typically handed down through generations by word of mouth. Sedgwick defines three distinct periods of Traditionalism, the first demonstrating its coalescence from the turn of the century through the 1930s in the writing, teaching, and correspondence of René Guénon. The second phase charts an emerging practice of Traditionalism in the form of metaphysical Sufi Islam as a religious application and European fascism as a political movement. The third phase, taking place after the 1960s, is characterized by the spread of Traditionalist thought throughout the West and into the Islamic world and Russia. Sedgwick explores each of these three periods of Traditionalism.

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