A biography of the boldest and most unsettling of the early modern philosophers, Spinoza, examining the man's life, relationships, career, and writings, while forcing us to rethink how we previously understood his reception in the fields of philosophy, religion, ethics, and political theory in his own time and in the years following his death.

Includes detailed notes to complement the analysis of religion, and a chronology. The author expounds his personal view of religion through a discussion of the scene in Genesis in which Abraham prepares to sacrifice his son Isaac at God's command.

Published to mark the 400th anniversary of the book's original publication, this facsimile edition faithfully reproduces one of the finest copies held in the British Library collections.