“With all his usual clarity and freshness, one of our foremost literary historians and critics sets out a comprehensive picture of how a story foundational for European civilization developed, from its origins in western Asia to its much-contested place in the post-Darwinian world… This is a rich, learned, lively book, which should engage all who are interested in the history of our imagination and the interweavings of faith, poetics, and philosophy.”

“Brilliant enough to make me seethe with envy.”

“A rare combination of wide-ranging erudition with verve of exposition. Even the most familiar materials are seen in a fresh, and humane, light. This is a book that makes one understand why old myths matter, even when they perceived unblinkingly as myths.”

“Bare then clothed, innocent then ashamed, blessed then cursed, sheltered then exiled. Stephen Greenblatt tracks Adam and Eve from an astute reading of the ancient origins of their story through a serendipitous tour of their afterlife in Jewish, Christian, and sometimes Muslim art, literature, and philosophy down to their post-Darwinian persistence in our own time. Endlessly illuminating and a sheer pleasure to read.”

“Most modern theories of human civilisation are, fundamentally, about the need to deal with mortality. Stephen Greenblatt’s thrilling new book, however, on the peregrinations of the story of Adam and Eve — the world’s most influential attempt to arrest the infinite regress of creation — shows just how central the question of human origins has been to pre-scientific conceptions of humanity.”

“Greenblatt’s particular genius is in synthesizing a vast array of knowledge, connecting the dots between anthropology, archaeology, biology, theology, history, philosophy, art and literature.… In The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve he does this brilliantly, creating a compelling and nuanced account.”

“Greenblatt brings a storyteller’s sense of drama to the turbulent life of [Milton] and, as he does with Augustine and his mother, views the making of a major work… through the lens of [Milton’s] private and public struggles.”

“No one does intellectual history quite like Greenblatt.… In The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve, he turns his attention to one of humanity’s founding stories. Expect a nuanced, careful, thrilling exploration of the story’s lasting influence.”

“That Greenblatt is himself an extraordinary storyteller will come as a surprise to no one familiar with his books. And here he treats us to absorbing accounts of Augustine and Milton — the anchors of the book — as well as Du¨rer, Darwin, and many others.”

“Powerful and capacious.”