According to Google Scholar rankings, Foucault is the number one most highly cited scholar in the worldThis is perhaps the last important unpublished work by a major twentieth-century philosopherThe French publication of this volume garnered much media attention in France and internationally, with coverage in the
Guardian and
New York TimesThe first three volumes of Foucault's
History of Sexuality have recently joined Penguin Modern Classics for the first time, along with other major works by the great French philosopherThe most innovative and influential French thinker of the contemporary eraNearly 35 years after his death, Foucault remains a vital reference point, and his
History of Sexuality remains required reading ... The appearance of the fourth volume is itself the most significant event in the world of Foucault scholarship in 20 years ... Essential
The final major work by one of the most influential thinkers of the twentieth century
Foucault's History of Sexuality changed the way we think about power, selfhood and sexuality forever. Arguing that sexuality is profoundly shaped by the power structures applied to it, the series is one of his most important and far-reaching works. In this fourth and final volume, Foucault turns his attention to early Christianity, exploring how ancient ideas of pleasure were modified into the Christian notion of the 'flesh' - a transformation that would define the Western experience of sexuality and subjectivity.
Completed at Foucault's death, the manuscript of this volume was locked away in a bank vault for three decades. Now for the first time, the work is available to English-language readers as the author originally conceived it.
