Philip Pullman and the Historical Imagination: Seventeenth-Century Literature, Science, and Religion in His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust [Hardcover]

Written in a colloquial style, this book is designed for the general reader, exploring seventeenth-century cultural history through the lens of Pullman's trilogiesHis Dark MaterialsandThe Book of Dust. It discusses Renaissance language, literature, science, and religion as well as seventeenth-century hieroglyphics and atomic physics.Philip Pullman and the Historical Imaginationtakes the general reader on a fascinating tour of seventeenth-century thought, exploring how this time period shaped Pullman's extraordinary trilogiesHis Dark MaterialsandThe Book of Dust.In Part One, readers are taken into the mysteries of Renaissance allegory and hieroglyphics, tracing how the alethiometer and Lyra's way of reading the device emerged from these traditions. Part Two enters the exciting and revolutionary world of seventeenth-century science. We see how the amber spyglass imitates Galileo's telescope, how early modern fantasies of space travel led to ideas of multiple worlds, how alchemy entered Lyra's later adventures in Oxford and Prague, and how the concept of Dust shares in the physics and philosophies of early scientists like Margaret Cavendish. Part Three invites readers into the thrilling epic poemParadise Lost--John Milton's dramatic account of the creation of the world following a violent war in Heaven--that was Pullman's inspiration forHis Dark Materials. Pullman's vibrant re-telling of this core story brings us rebel angels, recasts Satan as a brooding Lord Asriel, and presents Lyra as the new Eve.Written by an eminent scholar of seventeenth-century literature and history,Philip Pullman and the Historical Imaginationis crafted in an engaging and accessible style aimed at popular readers and fans of Pullman's work. It enlivens a historical period that has long attracted Pullman himself, bringing to life intriguing figures and the richly complex ideas of the time. This book is an exploration of hislÓ&