A series of lectures on the political aspects of St. Augustine's "City of God" by John Neville Figgis. Excerpts: ...There are those who are for treating S. Augustine as the typical example of the medieval temperament with its heights and depths, its glories and splendors of imagination, its dialectical ingenuity and its irrational superstitions. Others see in S. Augustine essentially a man of the antique world. They do not deny to him real influence upon later times. Who can? But they are inclined to minimize this; at least in matters of social and political importance.

John Neville Figgis (1866 1919) was a historian, political theorist and monk, his writings extensively influenced the history of ideas and prefigured the theological developments of the 1920s. First published in 1916, this second edition of a 1907 original provides six chapters on various aspects of political thought from between 1414 and 1625, together with one introductory chapter and extensive notes. It was derived from a The Birkbeck Lectures for 1900, which were delivered by Figgis at Trinity College, Cambridge. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in Medieval history,...

-Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely-. This is the most widely quoted aphorism by -the magistrate of history- Lord Acton. -The History of Freedom. And Other Essays- contains two volumes of his numerous writings and gives an excellent introduction into the thinking of this eminent thinker who is considered to be one of the most learned Englishmen of his time and who made the history of liberty his life's work. Indeed, he considered political liberty the essential condition and guardian of religious liberty. This volume also contains an introduction by the editors,...