"A classic of sociology and political science that helps us to realize how recent, precious and fragile are the ideas and institutions of democracy."--Stanislav Andreski

A pioneering historical analysis of the state from a sociological perspective which focuses on the changing nature of political power and the groups who wielded this power. One of his key insights is the distinction between the economic and the political means of acquiring wealth. This is the 1914 book that started it all in the 20th century, the book that kicked off a century of anti-state, pro-property writing. This was the prototype for Nock's writing, for Chodorov's work, and even the theoretical edifice that later became Rothbardianism. Indeed, Franz Oppenheimer wrote what...