"A fierce and lively book. . . .This is one of those rare books that could make people think about their intimate lives in a new way." — New York Times Book Review

“A rousing defense of imprudent ardor and romantic excess. . . . It’s difficult to deny that [Nehring] is on to something.” — Wall Street Journal

A thinking person’s “guide” that makes the case for love in an age both cynical about and fearful of strong passion. Bold and challenging, A Vindication of Love has inspired praise and controversy, and brilliantly reinvigorated the romance debate. A perfect choice for readers of Alain de Botton’s How Proust Can Change Your Life and Pierre Bayard’s How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read.

In an age of emotional correctness and the cult of safety, what have we lost by trying to make love bland?

• A Provocative Philosophy of Love: This is no gentle guide. Nehring argues for reclaiming love as a "high-risk adventure"—a force that is ecstatic and dangerous, transcendent and even demonic.
• An Unflinching Cultural Critique: A direct challenge to the modern "cult of safe love" and an examination of how feminism developed an anti-romantic bias that discredits strong passion.
• Love as Transgression and Heroism: Drawing on centuries of art and thought, this book explores the vital roles that inequality, transgression, absence, and even failure play in the greatest love stories.
• Literary and Historical Depth: A brilliant tour through the lives and minds of figures like Plato, Mary Wollstonecraft, Dante, and Simone de Beauvoir to build a powerful new case for romantic excess.