“Splendidly readable and hugely informative. . . . Episode after episode from the cultural life of the twentieth century springs to vivid life.” —Boston Globe From Freud to Babbitt, from Animal Farm to Sartre to the Great Society, from the Theory of Relativity to counterculture to Kosovo, The Modern Mind is encyclopedic, covering the major writers, artists, scientists, and philosophers who produced the ideas by which we live. Peter Watson has produced a fluent and engaging narrative of the intellectual tradition of the twentieth century, and the men and women who created it. “Watson’s rich narrative covers every corner of intellectual life in the twentieth century.” —Publishers Weekly “Packed with a multitude of events, ideas, and influential people, Watson’s infectious writing carries the reader swiftly along. . . . This book will be read and consulted for many years.” —Library Journal “Enthralling, illuminating, and intellectually titillating.” —Booklist