Sweet Hopes of the Future Unmasked

Utopia and Revolution, by Melvin J. Lasky. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. 726 pp.

Condorcet, the great exemplar and martyr of the French Revolution, wrote under the shadow of death that “the friend of humanity can enjoy unmixed pleasure only by surrendering to the sweet hopes of the future.” Melvin Lasky, editor of Encounter, here attempts to unmask all those who think like Condorcet that it is one of the glories of man’s estate to dream of a bette...