"The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." This fragment of verse by the Greek poet Archilochus describes the central thesis of Isaiah Berlin's masterly essay on Tolstoy, in which he underlines a fundamental distinction between those people (foxes) who are fascinated by the infinite variety of things and those (hedgehogs) who relate everything to a central, all embracing system. Tolstoy longed for a unitary vision, Sir Isaiah observes, but his marvelous perception of people, things, and the moments of history was so acute that he could not stop himself from writing as he saw, felt, and understood. He was by nature a fox who wanted to be a hedgehog. Since its first publication in 1953 Sir Isaiah's long essay has acquired the status of a small masterpiece. In its distillation of his profound knowledge of Russian thought and more general political philosophy, The Hedgehog and the Fox is a triumph of erudition and a superb entryway into an understanding of Tolstoy's work. "This little book is so entertaining, as well as acute, that the reader hardly notices that it is learned too." Arnold Toynbee.

以撒•柏林不僅是當代最傑出，也是最有人情味的自由主義哲學家，他的生活故事是我們這個時代一個生動而富於啟迪的縮影。 他與身兼學者、記者、作家三重身分的邁克•伊格納蒂夫展開了持續十年而內容豐富的一系列會談，其成果便是這部集原創性、完整性和權威性於一身的柏林傳記。 柏林的生活（1909-1997）由俄羅斯、猶太和不列顛三大民族傳統塑造而成，並為本世紀各種最強大的潮流所�挾。他出生於拉脫維亞的里嘉，十一歲即隨家人遷往英國，憑一種善於適應環境的天賦，他成為萬靈學院有史以來第一個猶太學生。二十世紀三○年代末，萬靈學院柏林的宿舍裡發生了許多意義重大的思想交鋒，現代分析哲學即由此濫觴。 二次大戰後，他在牛津大學開始從事思想史和十九世紀俄國思想的宏大研究，並於英國廣播公司（BBC）發表演講，且有一系列開拓性的講座，晚年又創建沃爾夫森學院，並出任第一任院長。 柏林的學術身分，主要建立在思想史著作上。這些著作對於人類在精神世界�的活動與掙扎，有極其深刻的理解與刻劃。 本傳記利用大量未曾發表的書簡資料，充滿了柏林本人的才智，邁克•伊格納蒂夫的生花妙筆為我們揭示了柏林的各種內心衝突，以及他在追求幸福方面的天賦。 本書展示了對一位偉人無與倫比的洞察，妙趣橫生，既富有感染力又不乏深刻的思想。