{"product_id":"happiness-a-history-9780802142894","title":"Happiness: A History","description":"Today, human beings tend to think of happiness as a natural right. But they haven't always felt this way. For the ancient Greeks, happiness meant virtue. For the Romans, it implied prosperity and divine favor. For Christians, happiness was synonymous with God. Throughout history, happiness has been equated regularly with the highest human calling, the most perfect human state. Yet it's only within the past two hundred years that human beings have begun to think of happiness as not just an earthly possibility but also as an earthly entitlement, even an obligation. In this sweeping new book, historian Darrin M. McMahon argues that our modern belief in happiness is the product of a dramatic revolution in human expectations carried out since the eighteenth century.\u003cbr\u003eIn the tradition of works by Peter Gay and Simon Schama, \u003ci\u003eHappiness\u003c\/i\u003e draws on a multitude of sources, including art and architecture, poetry and scripture, music and theology, and literature and myth, to offer a sweeping intellectual history of man's most elusive yet coveted goal.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Grove Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/18\/2006\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780802142894\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 544\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.70lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.70h x 6.00w x 1.40d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eChristian Century\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/26\/2006 pg. 33\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e 02\/18\/2007 pg. 28\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Darrin M. McMahon","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":36643442163868,"sku":"9780802142894","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_c4f49e76-c1c3-470d-a639-73b686707771.jpg?v=1603856626","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/happiness-a-history-9780802142894","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}