The shape of the new: four big ideas and how they made the modern world

Adam Smith: the science of man, morality, and money

Karl Marx: the tragic consequences of a brilliant theory

Charles Darwin: struggle and selection in the realm of ideas

Making democracy: the Jefferson-Hamilton debates

Counter-enlightenment: from anti-modernism to fascism

Modernizing an ancient god: evangelical Christianity in America

Purifying Islam: the Muslim reaction against the Western enlightenment

Conclusion: the power of ideas and the importance of the humanities.