Tuesday, July 11, 2006

The Origins of Outreach

OpinionJournal - Leisure & Arts : The case for a free exchange of people, ideas and goods across borders.

"Strangers nowhere in the world" was how the French Encyclopédie, that landmark of scholarship and cosmopolitanism, described those who aspired to the cosmopolitan ideal in the 18th century. The phrase serves as the title to Margaret Jacob's timely study of early modern Europe. Although the book's focus lies across the Atlantic, centuries ago, "Strangers Nowhere in the World" has much to tell Americans and other contemporaries who would call themselves "citizens of the world."

Mr. McMahon, a professor of history at Florida State University, is the author of "Happiness: A History" (Atlantic Monthly Press).

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