Unique among the leading figures of the Scottish Enlightenment, Ferguson saw two eighteenth-century revolutions, the American and the French. This monograph contains essays that range across all of Ferguson's works to investigate his engagement with contemporary events and his contributions to our understanding of history and human action.

Increasing numbers of scholars have recognized Ferguson's contribution to Enlightenment thinking, but no collections of scholarly essays have been devoted to him. In this, the first of two related monographs, essays range across all of Ferguson's works to investigate his engagement with contemporary events and his contributions to our understanding of history and human action. Unique among the leading figures of the Scottish Enlightenment, Ferguson saw two eighteenth-century revolutions, the American and the French. On these and on many other important contemporary subjects, the views he expressed helped shape public opinion. But his work here also extends back to Roman times, about which he drew comparisons with the society of his day. As shown in these essays, he not only offered his thoughts on and described history, he investigated the nature of history itself.

Eugene Heath and Vincenzo Merolle, 'Introduction'I. Life and WorksJohn D Brewer, 'Ferguson's Epistolary Self'David Allan, 'Ferguson and Scottish History: Past and Present in An Essay on the History of Civil Society'Jane B Fagg, 'Ferguson's Use of the Edinburgh University Library: 1764-1806'II. In HistoryDavid Raynor, 'Ferguson's Reflections Previous to the Establishment of a Militia'Yasuo Amoh, 'Ferguson's Views on the American and French Revolutions'David Kettler, 'Political Education for Empire and Revolution'III. On HistoryIain McDaniel, 'Ferguson, Roman History and the Threat of Military Government in Modern Europe'Annette Meyer, 'Ferguson's 'Appropriate Stile' in Combining History and Science: The History of Historiography Revisited'IV. Human Nature, Action and ProgressFania Oz-Salzberger, 'Ferguson's Politics of Action'Craig Smith, 'Ferguson and the Active Genius of Mankind'Jeng-Guo S Chen, 'Providence and Progress: The Religious Dimension in Ferguson's Discussion of Civil Society'