Real Lives in the Eighteenth Century: A Global Perspective (Real Lives in Global Perspective)

Real Lives in the Eighteenth Century presents a global history using four sets of biographies to illustrate corresponding situations in different geographical regions. Loosely based on Plutarch’s Parallel Lives, the four chapters focus on maritime trade, letters, empire, and revolution.The vibrant narratives that span four continents include the following pairs: Tupaia (c. 1725-1770) and Olaudah Equiano (c. 1745-1797), seafarers of the Pacific and Atlantic; Phillis Wheatley (c. 1753-1784) and Ho Xuan Huong (c. 1772-c.1822), poets of revolution; Marie Antoinette (1745-1792) and Catherine the Great (1729-1796), princesses at foreign courts; and José Gabriel Túpac Amaru (c. 1742-1781) and Toussaint Louverture (c. 1743-1803), leaders of revolutions. As a global history, this volume of Real Lives goes beyond European perceptions of enlightenment and revolution to cover political upheaval in five regions: America, France, Haiti, Peru, and Vietnam.It explores key concepts such as freedom, kno