The author argues against much recent work on Baudelaire that assumes his modernism by emphasizing his relationship to current critical preoccupations such as issues of race and gender or by "correcting" his politics. "This ambitious and important book addresses the broader issue of modernism in relation to the difficult question of its historicity. It should be of great interest to those concerned with specific theoretical issues-the aesthetics of allegory, the status of literary history and historical consciousness-as well as those interested in specific critical works-Bataille, Benjamin, de Man, Sartre-which are central to the author's analysis of Baudelaire."-Suzanne Guerlac, Emory University