"An exceptional work of accessibly written scholarship that seems poised to usher the history of ideas back into vogue.... A book that is bound to intrigue anyone interested in the concept of genius, especially today when it seems that anyone and everyone can be one" —Buffalo News

"This absorbing history of ideas about genius includes genius's 'intimate connection to the divine,' as well as the social construction of genius. From the ancients to today, every possible aspect of this fascinating topic is explored... It’s a book for scholars, certainly, but also for anyone wanting to get behind and beyond the way genius is discussed in popular media." —Psychology Today.com

"McMahon delivers a comprehensive look at the concept of genius in all its philosophical glory. Covering topics from science to the arts to philosophy, the book offers a densely packed, earnest look at how genius has been viewed throughout the centuries." —Publishers Weekly

"As Darrin McMahon shows, the genius is the god among men, providing one of the last connections to the transcendent that our common secular culture retains, and setting up a struggle between our desire for exceptional beings and our leveling egalitarianism. In its absorbing and remarkable way, Divine Fury educates and entertains, vindicating the importance of grand history told over the long term." —Samuel Moyn, Columbia University, author of The Last Utopia: Human Rights in History

"Darrin McMahon has become one of the world's greatest historians of ideas. His analysis of genius is eye-opening and original, his insights are deep and fresh, and his prose is sparkling and subtle. Prepare to be blown away." —Daniel Gilbert, Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of Stumbling on Happiness

"Darrin McMahon has given us all we could want in an intellectual history of genius. I especially liked his sharp observations on the cult of Michelangelo and his droller ones on Einstein in prose that is a delight to read for its elegance and lucidity" —Jim Holt, author of Why Does the World Exist?: An Existential Detective Story

"This elegant and probing book is about much more than genius; it is about why we think of ourselves as we do. Demons, saints, angels, poets, physicists, and generals parade through these pages, offering the reader an extraordinary series of insights into the modern tension between the cult of celebrity and a deepening suspicion of greatness." —Lynn Hunt, author of Inventing Human Rights

"What an illuminating book Darrin McMahon has given us. By tracing the history of a seemingly simple idea, that of the individual genius, he sheds a bright and sometimes disturbing light on how we think about ourselves and our societies today. Drawing artfully on a wide range of philosophical, religious, artistic, and scientific material, McMahon forces us to ask: why are we so eager to identify geniuses? What do we expect from them, and why? After reading his compelling story you may never use the term 'genius' again." —Mark Lilla, author of The Stillborn God: Religion, Politics, and the Modern West

"It is rare to find an historian who writes in a style both so sure-footed and so light, and with such joy in the telling of a tale. In his engaging new book Darrin McMahon takes us on an intellectual adventure, tracing the transformation of the idea of genius as it shed its sacred garments to become the common property of our own democratic age. Ranging with ease across history, from the poets of Romanticism to the tyrants of the twentieth-century, from Einstein to the 'IQ Test,' and from Benjamin Franklin to the 'wiz-kid' inventors of silicon valley, McMahon invites us to consider a central paradox of our time: If anyone can be a genius, then perhaps no one is." —Peter E. Gordon, Amabel B. James Professor of History, Harvard University, and author of Continental Divide: Heidegger, Cassirer, Davos