In his deeply fascinating follow-up to the bestselling Confronting Leviathan, Talking Politics podcast host Professor David Runciman examines further key figures and ideas that underpin modern politics.
In this bold new follow-up to Confronting Leviathan, David Runciman unmasks modern politics and reveals the great men and women of ideas behind it.
What can Samuel Butler's ideas teach us about the oddity of how we choose to organise our societies? How did Frederick Douglass not only expose the horrors of slavery, but champion a new approach to abolishing it? Why should we tolerate snobbery, betrayal and hypocrisy, as Judith Shklar suggested? And what does Friedrich Nietzsche predict for our future?
From Rousseau to Rawls, fascism to feminism and pleasure to anarchy, this is a mind-bending tour through the history of ideas which will forever change your view of politics today.
Publisher: Profile Books Ltd
ISBN: 9781800815902
Number of pages: 320
Weight: 520 g
Dimensions: 240 x 156 x 34 mm
Edition: Main
Runciman is a superbly lucid and conversational guide - this is a perfect starting place for anyone who wants to get their teeth into the history of political philosophy - The Times
The History of Ideas still feels like the best book about modern politics I've read in ages ... a splendid book: economical, invigorating and surprising - James Marriott
Timely ... [Runciman's] page-turning volume of essays - a study of intellectuals who sought to improve the politics and societies of their day - makes you feel a little more learned than you did before ... he has that gift, both as a podcaster and as a writer, to illuminate abstruse and abstract ideas with human charm - Observer
Timely ... important - Irish Times
Praise for Confronting Leviathan and David Runciman: 'Bracingly intelligent ... a wonderful read - Mark Mazower, Guardian
Incredibly timely ... wonderful elegance and clarity through which complex ideas are presented ... That the book helps make thinking about the state enjoyable is just the least of its many exceptional qualities - Pascal Donohue, Irish Times
A brilliant introduction for anyone looking to engage with political debates beyond the headlines ... Excellent - Joshua Pugh Ginn, Herald
One of the great modern writers of democracy - Anne Applebaum
In our time of Trump and Putin, the re-emergence of far-right fascism and the consolidation of global kleptocracy, the ideas Runciman explores have never been so pertinent - Ian Hughes, The Irish Times
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