The Political Classics: A Guide to the essential Texts from Plato to Rousseau

This study of seven classic texts is designed to enable students of political ideas to gain a full appreciation of the great works which form the foundation of the subject. The texts - Hamilton's The Federalist, Sieyes' What is the Third Estate?, Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France, Hegel's The Philosophy of Right, de Tocqueville's Democracy in America, Marx and Engels' Communist Manifesto, and Mill's On Liberty - illustrate and express the main themes of the critical period from the turbulent era of the American and French Revolutions through to the calmer waters of the nineteenth century: the growing distinction between state and society, the interplay of revolution and reaction, the growth of representative government, and the challenge posed by democracy.

Murray Forsyth, Professor, Hong Kong Baptist University. Maurice Keens-Soper, Honorary Fellow, Department of Politics, University of Wales, Swansea, and University Fellow in the Centre for the Study of Diplomacy, University of Leicester. John Hoffman, Senior Lecturer in Politics, University of Leicester.