Ignorance

“Ignorance: A Global History explores the myriad ways in which ‘not-knowing’ affects our lives, sometimes for good, sometimes for ill. . . . Burke takes all ignorance—rather than all knowledge—for his province. . . . Throughout . . . , Burke peppers readers with a flurry of striking factoids, quotations and anecdotes.”—Michael Dirda, Washington Post

“From this storehouse of historical data Burke offers a fascinating catalogue of the conditions and agency of ignorance.”—Jeffrey Collins, Times Literary Supplement

“Explores the ways ‘obstacles, forgetting, secrecy, denial, uncertainty, prejudice, misunderstanding and credulity’ have impacted the course of history, from the redrawing of borders to climate change denial and more.”—New York Times Book Review

“[A] fascinating new history of worldwide ignorance.”—Peter B. Kaufman, Los Angeles Review of Books

“A declaration of love for education which should be read by anyone who is keen to reflect on the relationship between deceptive populism and the absence of knowledge.”—Stefan Bauer, History Today

A Seminary Coop Notable Book of 2023

“Ignorance might seem to be a pressing contemporary problem but, as this dazzling, comprehensive book shows, it has many pasts. Only Peter Burke could have written such a deliciously knowledgeable history of ignorance.”—David Armitage, Civil Wars: A History in Ideas

“A rich, fascinating book of astonishing range. Burke impresses the need for awe and humility about how much humanity doesn’t know or refuses to know, and how this problem shifts and resurfaces across eras.”—Linsey McGoey, author of The Unknowers

“Delivers a journey through all forms of not knowing, from secrecies to unintended consequences, to different forms of forgetting things formerly known. Burke shows that as more knowledge is generated, the horizon of ignorance can widen—for good or for bad. Burke’s new book will not only be a milestone in ignorance studies, but should become standard reading.”—Matthias Gross, author of Ignorance and Surprise