Le Clan Spinoza

This book pulls together all the resources of fiction to revive the world in which Bento de Spinoza lived, between Amsterdam and The Hague, in a 17th century Europe, which would witness the emergence of Modern Reason. It celebrates the adventures of those who set out to make freedom their own, colourful men and women who were nonetheless overlooked by history. Among them, Saul Levi Morteira, great Rabbi of Amsterdam’s Jewish community; Adriaen Koerbagh, an encyclopaedist who was a century ahead of his time; Francisca Van den Enden, an activist, fiercely opposed to Louis XIV; Sténon, a brilliant anatomist.

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Following the wide-ranging fates of their families, loves, friendships and ideas, this unique, lavish and riveting book paints the unsung portrait of Spinoza and his intimate 'network'. Through him, philosophy shines its powerful light, but instead of blinding us with admiration for one of philosophy’s greatest authors, it helps us to better understand what the world is - his own, our own - and beyond that, what the concept 'to understand' really means.

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