For over two centuries Montesquieu has been viewed as an indecipherable genius-a great analyst of political facts who rarely gave away his own values. But in this lucid and intelligent set of essays, readers will find a different Montesquieu. Here the author of The Spirit of the Laws appears in all his colors as the most important expositor, in his time and ours, of a liberal science of politics.

Daniel Gordon, University of Massachusetts at Amherst

Montesquieu's classic work is universally admired but less well understood. Over the years Montesquieu has been all things to all people: a constitutional monarchist, a liberal Anglophile, an enlightened cosmopolitan, a scientific sociologist. This collection will aid our understanding of the generosity and esprit of the author of The Spirit of the Laws.

Steven B Smith, Yale University

This book is essential for future Montesquieu studies and will be highly useful to upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, researchers, and faculty.

Choice Reviews

A superb volume. . . A valuable collection of essays from some of the leading Montesquieu scholars writing today, which clearly establishes the depth and breadth of Montesquieu's political science. It is difficult to put together a collection of papers on a single philosopher that can at once appeal to the general reader and yet present challenges and insights to the specialist. This volume succeeds brilliantly on both fronts. A reader new to Montesquieu will find comprehensive and lucid analyses of his political thought; the Montesquieu specialist will find intriguing insights and challenging arguments, not to mention a lively critical debate in the volume's endnotes.

History of Political Thought

Were there no other reasons to place this volume high on any Enlightenment (and related subjects) reading list, his [Carrithers'] introduction would constitute sufficient cause. The remainder of the book does, however, afford plenty more.

English Historical Review

This notable volume, explicitly and its quality, stands as an encomium to the monumental significance of Montesquieu's work. From the very outset in the editorial introduction by David Carrithers, the achievement of Montesquieu, the sovereign importance of discerning his decisive meaning, and his crucial emphasis on moderation in all things pertinent to human affairs is impressed on the reader with great cogency. This volume will educate the novice and will be valued by the learned.

Joseph Cropsey, University of Chicago