A readable and thoughtful work first published in Great Britain in 1994 by Sinclair-Stevenson, an imprint of Reed Consumer Books, Ltd. Historian Zeldin (Oxford U.) conveys the broad scope of his reflections in chapters with such intriguing titles as: How humans have repeatedly lost hope, and how new encounters, and a new pair of spectacles revive them; How men and women have slowly learned to have interesting conversations; How some people have acquired an immunity to loneliness; Why there has been more progress in cooking than in sex; and How people have freed themselves from fear by finding new fears. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.