Democracy in America - Softcover

De Tocqueville, Alexis

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1453716645 ISBN 13: 9781453716649

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2010

Synopsis

In 1831 Alexis de Tocqueville, a young French aristocrat and ambitious civil servant, made a nine-month journey throughout America. The result was Democracy in America, a monumental study of the life and institutions of the evolving nation. Tocqueville looked to the flourishing democratic system in America as a possible model for post-revolutionary France, believing that the egalitarian ideals it enshrined reflected the spirit of the age and even divine will. His insightful work has become one of the most influential political texts ever written on America and an indispensable authority on democracy.

About this title

About the Author

One of America's premier essayists, Joseph Epstein was the editor of "The American Scholar for 25 years and has taught--and continues to teach--advanced prose, the reading and writing of fiction, the sociology of literature, autobiography, literature and politics, Henry James, Joseph Conrad, and Willa Cather at Northwestern University. Epstein is the author of 13 books, most recently Life Sentences and Narcissus Leaves the Pool, and has published roughly four hundred essays, stories, reviews and articles in such journals as "The New Yorker, Harper's, Times Literary Supplement, The New Republic, Commentary, The New Criterion, The New York Review of Books, Encounter, The New York Times Magazine, and "Dissent.

"From the Paperback edition.

Review

''No better study of a nation's institutions and culture than Tocqueville's Democracy in America has ever been written by a foreign observer; none perhaps as good.'' -- New York Times

''Democracy in America is a canonical text in the curriculum of college history and political theory courses in the United States and, more than 150 years after its publication, it continues to command the attention of scholars writing about the strengths and limits of democracy in general and of American democracy in particular. . . . In the 20th century, as 'mass culture' and 'the tyranny of the majority' have come increasingly to pre-occupy us, Tocqueville has been elevated to the status of a prescient political theorist, sometimes even a prophet.'' --New York Times Book Review

''It's hard to think of a work that has so influenced our understanding of the United States as this -- still the most authoritative, reflective set of observations about American institutions and the American character ever written.'' -- Publishers Weekly

''[George Lawrence's] wonderful style has given us a work that will be a standard for many years.'' --Library Journal

''Why does Tocqueville remain one of the most insightful analysts of American society? Certainly there is the comprehensive nature of his project, but one must also take into account the brilliance of his prose, with just the right balance of elegance and clarity. Democracy in America is as accessible to the modern reader as the work of any contemporary journalist, political scientist, or sociologist -- and in many cases more so. It is an essential volume for anybody concerned with American history.'' --Amazon.com Review

Edition details

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1453716645
• ISBN 13: 9781453716649
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 206