Individualism: The Cultural Logic of Modernity explores ideas of the modern sovereign individual in the western cultural tradition. Divided into two sections, this volume surveys the history of western individualism in both its early and later forms: chiefly from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, and then individualism in the twentieth century. These essays boldly challenge not only the exclusionary framework and self-assured teleology, but also the metaphysical certainty of that remarkably tenacious narrative on "the rise of the individual." Some essays question the correlation of realist characterization to the eighteenth-century British novel, while others champion the continuing political relevance of selfhood in modernist fiction over and against postmodern nihilism. Yet others move to the foreground underappreciated topics, such as the role of courtly cultures in the development of individualism. Taken together, the essays provocatively revise and enrich our understanding of individualism as the generative premise of modernity itself. Authors especially considered include Locke, Defoe, Freud, and Adorno. The essays in this volume first began as papers presented at a conference of the American Comparative Literature Association held at Princeton University. Among the contributors are Nancy Armstrong, Deborah Cook, James Cruise, David Jenemann, Lucy McNeece, Vivasvan Soni, Frederick Turner, and Philip Weinstein.

Averilla del Alvaretti is set to marry the Conte della Piacca, forced into the union by her unfeeling uncle, when she meets the handsome Sylvio di Rosalva and falls in love with him. But Sylvio's behaviour and origins are mysterious, and despite his professions of love, he abruptly breaks off the connection, sending Averilla a mortifying letter saying he never loved her.

Averilla marries the Conte della Piacca, who, she is pleased to find, is a kind and generous man, and not the tyrant she had imagined. Then, one night at a party with her husband, Averilla catches sight of Sylvio -- only he claims not to know her Then, when Sylvio is summoned to court for allegedly breaking a promise to marry, and tells a tale different than the one he had told her, the mystery deepens. But there is more at stake in the trial than the broken marriage promise -- as the hearing unfolds, a terrible tale of poisoning, blackmail, and murder will be exposed

A delightful blend of mystery, romance, and Shakespearean intrigue, with an undercurrent of Gothic horror, The Impenetrable Secret, Find it Out is one of Francis Lathom's most enjoyable and lighthearted novels. Critically acclaimed on its initial release in 1805, the novel has been out of print since 1831. This edition includes a new introduction by James Cruise which addresses the recurring theme of secrecy in eighteenth century literature, and analyses Lathom's novel within this broader framework.