Promotional Information

Rousseau's autobiography, giving a unique insight into the mind and life of one of the greatest thinkers of the Enlightenment

Table of Contents

The Confessions - Jean-Jacques Rousseau Introduction
The First Part
Book One
Book Two
Book Three
Book Four
Book Five
Book Six
The Second Part
Book Seven
Book Eight
Book Nine
Book Ten
Book Eleven
Book Twelve
Notes

About the Author

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born in Geneva in 1712. Abandoned by his father at the age of ten, he left the city in 1728 and from then on wandered Europe, searching for happiness. In 1732 he settled for eight years at Les Charmettes, remembered in his book Confessions. In 1741 he moved to Paris where he met Diderot, in the meantime fathering five children, all of whom he abandoned. His corwning achievement is his work of political philosophy, The Social Contract, which was published in 1762. He died in 1778.


J.M. Cohen, a Cambridge graduate, was the author of many Penguin translations, including versions of Cervantes, Rabelais and Montaigne. He died in 1989.