A fascinating and rich account of how the European mind, since the Reformation, has been captivated by the idea of autonomy. The author discusses how the preoccupation with autonomy has eroded the social, public and political dimensions of modern ethics and manners. Lambropoulos is equally at home with literature, philosophy, art, and law, and he paints a dazzling picture of the grand, but perhaps fatal, obsessions of modern selves.