Isaiah Berlin was born in Riga in 1909. In 1916 his family moved to Petrograd, where he witnessed the Russian Revolution, and in 1921 he emigrated to England. He was educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and became a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, where he was later appointed Professor of Social and Political Theory. He served as the first president of Wolfson College, Oxford, and as president of the British Academy. He died in 1997. For more information, see the Isaiah Berlin Virtual Library. »

The First and the Last

By Isaiah Berlin

Isaiah Berlin's last essay, "My Intellectual Path," offers a concise summary of his thoughts, from his early philosophical work at Oxford to his later writings on intellectual history—particularly on the problems of freedom, determinism, pluralism, romanticism, and nationalism. The First and the Last brings "My Intellectual Path" together with Berlin's earliest surviving work, "'The Purpose Justifies the Ways.'" This short story, written when he was twelve and just one year after his family emigrated from St. Petersburg to London, was based on an incident he witnessed during the Russian Revolution that inspired his lifelong horror of violence and his doubts about the pursuit of an ideal society.

This collection also includes tributes by Noel Annan, Stuart Hampshire, Aileen Kelly, Avishai Margalit, and Bernard Williams that vividly recall Berlin as conversationalist, music lover, philosopher, and friend. It provides the perfect introduction to Berlin's ideas.

Special offer: Purchase The Legacy of Isaiah Berlin and get The First and the Last for only $10.49!

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The Legacy of Isaiah Berlin Edited by Mark Lilla and Robert B. Silvers and Ronald Dworkin The two days of discussion preserved here demonstrate the continuing vitality and relevance of Isaiah Berlin's thought in today's social and political debates.

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