The writings of the High Church Tory pamphleteer Mary Astell (1666-1731) are a remarkable contribution to the constitutional debates that ushered in the modern democratic state. An interlocutor with Swift and Defoe, Astell was perhaps the first systematic critic of Locke's writings. Astell's political pamphlets Reflections upon Marriage, A Fair Way with the Dissenters, and An Impartial Enquiry into the Origins of Rebellion have never been reprinted in their entirety. This new edition makes accessible the major works of an important political theorist.
The writings of the High Church Tory pamphleteer Mary Astell (1666-1731) are a remarkable contribution to the constitutional debates that ushered in t...