Emile

　　Alan Blooms new translation of Emile, Rousseaus masterpiece onthe education and training of the young, is the first in more thanseventy years. In it, Bloom, whose magnificent translation ofPlatos Republic has been universally hailed as a virtualrediscovery of that timeless text, again brings together thetranslators gift for journeying between two languages and culturesand the philosophers perception of the true meaning andsignificance of the issues being examined in the work. The resultis a clear, readable, and highly engrossing text that at the sametime offers a wholly new sense of the importance and relevance ofRousseaus thought to us. In addition to his translation, Bloomprovides a brilliant introduction that relates the structure andthemes of the book to the vital preoccupation's of our own age,particularly in the field of education, but also more generally tothe current concerns about the limits and possibilities of humannature. Thus in this translation Emile, long a classic in thehistory of Western thought and educational theory, becomessomething more: a pre*ion, fresh and dazzling, for thebringing up of autonomous, responsiblethat is, trulydemocratichuman beings.