The Meaning of History

x, 224 pp. Translated from the Russian by George Reavey. CONTENTS: Foreword; Translator's Note; on the Essence of the Historical: The Meaning of Tradition; On the Nature of the Historical: The Metaphysical and the Historical; Of Celestial History: God and Man; Of Celestial History: Time and Eternity; The Destiny of the Jews; Christianity and History; The Renaissance and Humanism; The End of the Renaissance and the Crisis of Humanism: The Advent of the Machine; The End of the Renaissance and the Crisis of Humanism: The Disintegration of the Human Image; The Doctrine of Progress and the Goal of History; Epilogue: The Will to Life and the Will to Culture. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Nikolai Alexandrovich Berdyaev (/b?r'dj??j?f, -j?v/;[1] Russian: ??????´? ??????´??????? ?????´??; March 18 [O.S. March 6] 1874 – March 24, 1948) was a Russian political and also Christian religious philosopher who emphasized the existential spiritual significance of human freedom and the human person. Alternate historical spellings of his name in English include "Berdiaev" and "Berdiaeff", and of his given name as "Nicolas" and "Nicholas".