Annotation: Richard Whatmore's engaging, meaningful, and concise book, a leading figure in intellectual history in the English-speaking world, provides clear answers to complex questions. Why and how do scholars reconstruct the ideas and worldviews of people from past epochs? How closely is this discipline connected to the development of political thought? When does a public need for this type of knowledge arise? The author traces the evolution of the approach from the early experiments of Hume and Montesquieu to recent works by Skinner, Hont, or Darnton, discusses the major discoveries made by intellectual historians in the field of modern political philosophy, and addresses fundamental theoretical questions. Whatmore shows how philosophical, scientific, political, religious, and artistic ideas are born and shaped in various historical contexts, and then themselves directly influence the development of society and people's decisions. Introducing the reader to the current state of intellectual history, the scholar offers his own — accessible and compelling — definition of the boundaries of this discipline. Richard Whatmore is a Professor of Modern History and Director of the Institute of Intellectual History at the University of St. Andrews.