The Noble Savage - Maurice Cranston

Between 1754 and 1762, before the exile and paranoia which dogged his final years, Rousseau produced many of his passionate, subversive masterpieces: "La Nouvelle Heloise", "Emile" and "The Social Contract". The author recreates his retreat from Paris, his intense love affairs and flirtatious friendships, his stormy relations with Voltaire and Diderot, and his evolving philosophy of nature.;This is a continuation of the biography which began with the publication of "Jean-Jacques: the Early Life and Work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau". At the age of 42, Rousseau left his literary circle in Paris for a life of rustic solitude, but the "first philosopher of the green" was not at his best when closest to nature. Rousseau eschewed the rewards of worldly success and began to live on the frugal earnings of a music copyist and moralist. At 42 he returned to Geneva to secure readmission to the Calvinist Church. Apart from biographical narrative, this book includes a central discussion of "Emile" and "The Social Contract".