The French Revolution embodied the emergence of the modern political world in the eyes of subsequent generations. It offered a new understanding of class politics, secular ideology, and revolutionary transformation which inspired the world-wide Communist experiment of the twentieth century. Iain Hampsher-Monk examines the variety, influence, and profundity of major thinkers such as Burke, Wollstonecraft, Paine and Godwin, as well as the impact of other less celebrated writers in this authoritative anthology of key political texts exploring the impact of this period on the British experience.

The French Revolution embodied the emergence of the modern political world in the eyes of subsequent generations. It offered a new understanding of class politics, secular ideology, and revolutionary transformation which inspired the world-wide Communist experiment of the twentieth century. Iain Hampsher-Monk examines the variety, influence, and profundity of major thinkers such as Burke, Wollstonecraft, Paine and Godwin, as well as the impact of other less celebrated writers in this authoritative anthology of key political texts exploring the impact of this period on the British experience.

This volume represents a major contribution to the history of ideas, in which political thought has always been central, and reflects the disciplinary tensions--and national differences--of what remains a "borderline" subject, located at the intersection of history, politics and philosophy. The distinguished team of international contributors explores the relationship between the history of political thought as a discipline, and the politics, history and culture of the various nations discussed, which include the UK, the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Central and Eastern Europe.

This volume represents a major contribution to the history of ideas, in which political thought has always been central, and reflects the disciplinary tensions--and national differences--of what remains a "borderline" subject, located at the intersection of history, politics and philosophy. The distinguished team of international contributors explores the relationship between the history of political thought as a discipline, and the politics, history and culture of the various nations discussed, which include the UK, the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Central and Eastern Europe.

This volume brings together a selection of Iain Hampsher-Monk's writings on questions of historicity and rationality in political theory, together with a substantial introduction written for the volume. There are two loci around which the work revolves - one is the relationship between history and philosophy in the analysis of key concepts such as liberty, democracy and toleration, the other is the role of reason in political science's explanations. Despite a background in PPE, the author played a major role in the 'historical', revolution in political theory. Here, his reflections on the...