“A wonderful introduction to history’s most influential scribblers, filled with clear explanations and engaging detail” ―Steven Pinker, author of Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress

“The authors have written a kind of Plutarch’s Lives of the great political philosophers. Their lively and engaging style make even the most abstract ideas come alive. This is a book that can be read and enjoyed by all.” ―Steven B. Smith, Alfred Cowles Professor of Political Science, Yale University, author of Political Philosophy

“An elegant meditation on political power … Garrard and Murphy take a self-critical view of citizenship, insisting that “you may not care about politics, but politics cares about you”” ―Eric Beerbohm, Professor of Government, Harvard University

“This book offers an excellent preparation for those who seek to distinguish the best from the worst in political life” ―Michael D. Gillespie, Professor of Political Science and Philosophy, Duke University

Graeme Garrard has taught political thought at Cardiff University, UK since 1995 and at the Harvard Summer School, USA since 2006. He has lectured at colleges and universities in Canada, the United States, Britain and France for 25 years. He is the author of two books: Rousseau’s Counter-Enlightenment (2000) and Counter-
Enlightenments: From the Eighteenth Century to the Present (2006).

James Bernard Murphy is Professor of Government at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, USA where he has taught since 1990. His next book is entitled Your Whole Life: Beyond Childhood and Adulthood (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2020).

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