Eugen Weber delivered the Barbara Frum Historical Lecture, based on Apocalypses, at the University of Toronto in March 1999. This annual lecture "on a subject of contemporary history in historical perspective" was established in memory of Barbara Frum.

Apocalypses

Prophecies, Cults and Millennial Beliefs through the Ages

The Barbara Frum Historical Lectureship

A national bestseller

What drove eminent historian Eugen Weber to write Apocalypses? His desire to redress the historical and religious amnesia that has consigned the study of apocalyptic and millennialist thought to the lunatic fringe. An absolute belief in the end time was omnipresent until the 17th century, and retains many adherents even now. Apocalyptic visions and prophecies inspired crusades, scientific discoveries, works of art, voyages such as those of Columbus, rebellions and reforms. Elegantly written, as witty and entertaining as it is profound, Apocalypses displays Eugen Weber's talents as a stylist and historical detective; this is more a travel book of the apocalypse than a definitive academic treatment. On the eve of a billennium beset by a host of apocalyptic predictions and cults, Apocalypses offers a sympathetic review of creeds we ignore at our peril.

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"A learned tour of this timely      subject.-- No one does            [history] better than Eugen Weber."- Robert Fulford, The Globe and Mail

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Until his recent retirement Eugen Weber held the Joan Palevsky Chair of Modern European History at UCLA; he is one of the foremost interpreters of French history. Author of a dozen books, Weber has also written and narrated a 52-part PBS series, The Western Tradition.

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