Spinoza: Life and Legacy

by Jonathan Israel

Spinoza: Life and Legacy is a new biography of the 17th-century Dutch-Jewish philosopher, Baruch Spinoza, by historian Jonathan Israel. Israel is a leading historian of early modern Europe, and an expert on the Dutch Republic, the tolerant—by 17th-century standards—world in which Spinoza grew up. His parents had fled Portugal because of the Inquisition and, as Israel points out, that “dark Iberian context was a crucial factor in Spinoza’s background, early life, and formation and likewise an essential dimension for understanding his thought generally.” The book builds on Steven Nadler’s biography of Spinoza, and at more than 1,200 pages is absolutely not for beginners. Rather, it’s for those seeking to think deeply—and disagree with Israel at times, no doubt—about Spinoza and his life and thought.

(If you’re looking for a more introductory approach to Spinoza, our interview about him is with Steven Nadler)