Rousseau's Dog

Jean-Jacques Rousseau - philosopher, novelist, composer, educationist, political provocateur - was on the run. He was fleeing intolerance, persecution, and enemies who proclaimed him a madman, dangerous to society. David Hume, the foremost philosopher in the English language, universally praised as a model of decency, came to his aid. He brought Rousseau and his beloved little dog Sultan to England. And then it all went horribly wrong. In Rousseau's Dog, David Edmonds and John Eidinow bring their narrative verve to the bitter quarrel that turned these two Enlightenment giants into mortal foes. And it is a very human story of compassion, treachery, anger and revenge.

David Edmonds is, and John Eidinow was, an award-winning journalist with the BBC. Their hugely acclaimed debut book, Wittgenstein's Poker: the story of a ten-minute argument between two great philosophers, has been published in eighteen languages and was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award.