Letters from America - Hardcover

Tocqueville, Alexis De

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300153821 ISBN 13: 9780300153828

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2010

Synopsis

Young Alexis de Tocqueville arrived in the United States for the first time in May 1831, commissioned by the French government to study the American prison system. For the next nine months he and his companion, Gustave de Beaumont, traveled and observed not only prisons but also the political, economic, and social systems of the early republic. Along the way, they frequently reported back to friends and family members in France. This book presents the first translation of the complete letters Tocqueville wrote during that seminal journey, accompanied by excerpts from Beaumont’s correspondence that provide details or different perspectives on the places, people, and American life and attitudes the travelers encountered.

These delightful letters provide an intimate portrait of the complicated, talented Tocqueville, who opened himself without prejudice to the world of Jacksonian America. Moreover, they contain many of the impressions and ideas that served as preliminary sketches for Democracy in America, his classic account of the American democratic system that remains an important reference work to this day. Accessible, witty, and charming, the letters Tocqueville penned while in America are of major interest to general readers, scholars, and students alike.

About this title

About the Author

Frederick Brown is professor emeritus, State University of New York at Stony Brook. His previous books include Zola: A Life; Flaubert: A Biography; and The Soul of France: Culture Wars in the Age of Dreyfus. He lives in New York City.

Review

"[Letters from America] provide[s] significant insights--above all, into [Tocqueville's] mental habit of 'making comparisons.' . . . But beyond their value in understanding Democracy in America, the letters are often simply delightful."--Daniel E. Ritchie, Books & Culture

(Daniel E. Ritchie Books & Culture)

"Ably translated. . . . Illumines the great work Democracy in America."—Daniel J. Mahoney, The New Criterion (Daniel J. Mahoney The New Criterion)

"How welcome!  How charming! Tocqueville’s letters from the U.S. and Canada are now presented in workmanlike American English for the first time. Everyone can enjoy them and learn from them. I do."—Hugh Brogan, author of Alexis de Tocqueville (Hugh Brogan)

"These magnificent letters, splendidly edited and audaciously translated, not only convey Tocqueville's immediate impressions and reflective wisdom about 'the happiest people' and their materialist mode, about Indians and slaves, but beautifully express the beguiling character of the young writer. A treasure."—Fritz Stern, author of Five Germanys I Have Known (Fritz Stern)

"These candid letters illuminate the purposes and perceptions of America's most famous foreign interpreter.  Reading them, Tocqueville becomes an engaging personality, not simply the name of a revered text."—Daniel Walker Howe, author of What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 (Daniel Walker Howe)

About this edition

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0300153821
• ISBN 13: 9780300153828
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304
• Editor: Brown Frederick