The book is a study of both 'common sense' and modernism generally between 1880 and 1925. Their Common Sense, however, does not see its purpose as being that of simply resetting the academic problems challenging art history and modern cultural studies today. It seeks, as well, to ask more basic questions about the consequences of an education. As such, the book takes many of the problems known to contemporary theoretical speculation and returns them to history, but it does so by finding another way to write history, keeping the voices alive, spoken, still beautiful, still subversive.

This English language edition is far more than a simple translation of the work "L'Histoire des vaccinations" published in 2008 in the same collection. The French edition has actually been totally revised and improved. In particular, it features a chapter dedicated entirely to yellow fever. A greater number of illustrations are included. This book will undoubtedly be of great interest to a section of the general public and to specialists. The history of vaccinations is a significant phase in the history of humanity. With the development of hygiene, vaccinations have certainly been the most notable progress of medicine. Nevertheless, this subject which has revolutionised human and animal medicine has long been explored poorly or not at all. This oversight has now been addressed through this fascinating work. All translated Pasteur texts are from the original manuscripts found in his laboratory notebooks. Finally, the moral problems inherent in the use of vaccines are addressed and at times, appear strangely similar to current situations…