AFFIRMING LETTERS 1975 - 1997

In this final volume, Isaiah Berlin enters a profoundly interesting last phase in his life. He dwells on pluralism of values and cultures, political liberalism, the defense of democracy, and the challenge posed by fundamentalism. But there is also gossip to close friends, reflections on music, the arts, and artists, as well as a Shakespearean fascination with the variety of humankind. He reacts, as always, to world events: the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians; the fall of Communism; the Falklands, Gulf, and Bosnian wars; and he observes the leading players on the world stage—Reagan, Thatcher, Begin, Sadat, Shamir, Gorbachev, Yeltsin, Clinton, and Khomeini. Affirming is the crowning achievement both of Berlin’s epistolary life and of the acclaimed edition of his letters that began publication 11 years ago.