The life and times of one of the most provocative thinkers of the twentieth century

Worldly Philosopher chronicles the times and writings of Albert O. Hirschman, one of the twentieth century's most original and provocative thinkers. In this gripping biography, Jeremy Adelman tells the story of a man shaped by modern horrors and hopes, a worldly intellectual who fought for and wrote in defense of the values of tolerance and change. This is the first major account of Hirschman's remarkable life, and a tale of the twentieth century as seen through the story of an astute and passionate observer. Adelman's riveting narrative traces how Hirschman's personal experiences shaped his unique intellectual perspective, and how his enduring legacy is one of hope, open-mindedness, and practical idealism.

Jeremy Adelman is the Walter Samuel Carpenter III Professor of Spanish Civilization and Culture and director of the Council for International Teaching and Research at Princeton University. His books include Worlds Together, Worlds Apart: A History of the World and Sovereignty and Revolution in the Iberian Atlantic (Princeton).

Acknowledgments xi
Introduction Mots Justes 1
1 The Garden 16
2 Berlin Is Burning 52
3 Proving Hamlet Wrong 85
4 The Hour of Courage 119
5 Crossings 153
6 Of Guns and Butter 187
7 The Last Battle 219
8 The Anthill 252
9 The Biography of a File 284
10 Colombia Years 295
11 Following My Truth 325
12 The Empirical Lantern 353
13 Sing the Epic 382
14 The God Who Helped 415
15 The Cold Monster 455
16 Man, the Stage 489
17 Body Parts 525
18 Disappointment 531
19 Social Science for Our Grandchildren 567
20 Reliving the Present 599
Conclusion Marc Chagall's Kiss 639
Afterword Sailing into the Wind 653
Notes 659
Bibliographic Essay 699
Index 709