Book Description
Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) visited the United States in 1831 as an assistant magistrate of the French government. His great work Democracy in America was published in 1835. This volume contains all of the notebooks Tocqueville kept during his American journey. ... Read more

Book Description
Founders of Modern Political and Social Thought present critical examinations of the work of major political philosphers and social theorists, assessing both their initial contribution and continuing relevance to politics and society. Each volume provides a clear, accessible, historically-informed account of each thinker's work, focusing on a reassessment of their central ideas and arguments. Founders encourage scholars and students to link their study of classic texts to current debates in political philosophy and social theory.Alexis de Tocqueville is one of the most topical and debated figures in contemporary political and social theory. This clear new introduction to de Tocqueville's thought examines in detail his classic works and their major themes. Welch argues thet Tocqueville's major themes tap into deep anxieties about democratic practices and his writings help us to identify the major fault lines in democracy at the turn of the new century. Beginning with a consideration of Tocqueville's distinctiveness against the historical background and intellectual context of his time, Welch goes on to trace the development of his thought on democracy and revolution, history, slavery, religion, and gender, including chapters dealing with his writings on France and the United States. The final chapter then explores Tocqueville's historical legacy and his contemporary significance, illuminating the reasons why this displaced nineteenth century aristocrat has become one of the most topical figures in contemporary political and social theory. ... Read more

Book Description
One of France's leading and most controversial political thinkers explores the central themes of Tocqueville's writings: the democratic revolution and the modern passion for equality. ... Read more

Book Description
In this concisely written book, Pope focuses on Tocqueville's work as a social theorist. He outlines the basic elements of Tocquevilles social theory and then analyzes it in relation to the work of other early theorists, notably Marx and Durkheim, and in relation to modern theory. This book is an important addition to courses on sociological theory, and is designed to be a short, useful reference work for advanced students in sociology. ... Read more

Book Description

Why did the French Revolution lead to the crimes of the Terror, whereas the American Revolution brought forth a liberal democracy? Alexis de Tocqueville spent a lifetime trying to understand the paradox. This first book on the genesis of Tocqueville's Democracy in America considers his two main themes of democracy and revolution in the light of his own early political activities and his subsequent studies of the past, and thereby makes a valuable contribution to intellectual history.

In tracing the evolution of Tocqueville's work, Lamberti reveals Tocqueville's enormous intellectual debt to Montesquieu; skillfully analyzes all that separates Tocqueville from the liberal French school, particularly Benjamin Constant and François Guizot; shows that Tocqueville believed that the only means of preventing new revolutions (which he abhorred) was to increase political freedom, especially that of association; sketches the difference between Tocqueville and counter-revolutionaries on the question of individualism, which Tocqueville wished to correct but not annihilate. Never before have historians been able to place Tocqueville so securely in the genealogy of French liberalism. This new work demonstrates his relevance to the world today.

Book Description
The first sustained feminist interpretation of Tocqueville's classic, Democracy in America. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Absolutely brilliant and utterly original interpretation
The eloquent interpretation of Tocqueville's Democracy in America that is Professor Janara's work, is definitely going to become one of the most pivotal feminist discussion of the classic. The intricate relationship between individuals within the society that Janara synthesizes from Tocqueville's work breathes much needed fresh air among all the discussions produced over the years. The effort of the writer shines through the immaculate prose as well as the cogent, crystal-clear organization, which makes this book enjoyable for as a general interest piece and an indispensible guide for all scholars of Tocqueville. Arguments are carefully laid down and well-juxtaposed at all times throughout the book; the dialectical nature is sure going to keep readers turning the pages. A 5-star absolute must-have for those who study Tocqueville as well as any who wish to read more in the fields of feminism and of political science. Bravo! ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Tocqueville Unveiled
This is an outstanding book. It will become essential reading for anyone with a serious interest in Tocqueville and will prove useful as well for those with more general interests in history.

The author has made use of a wide range of sources; but, most importantly, he has gained unpresidented access to thousands of pages of Tocqueville's own notes, perserved and guarded by the Tocqueville family. With careful detective work, Gannett reveals a coherent, inciteful, cleanly written picture both of Tocqueville's personal development and of Tocqueville's concealed motives in writing The Old Regime and the Revolution.

As the flyleaf notes, in addition to being a Tocqueville scholar, Gannett is a community organizer.Those reading this book in search of explicit, practical lessons for modern politics may be disappointed. Still, the lessons are there for non-accademics willing to invest in a reflective reading of this academic work.For those who are amateur or professional historians, this book is a gem. ... Read more

Book Description

Alexis de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont's travels in America in 1831-32 have recently become the subject of renewed interest, as a C-SPAN special program has retraced the Frenchmen's journey by broadcasting each week from a different city along the route. Now the Tocqueville rediscovery continues with the publication of this unique guidebook. Comprised of fifty-five brief chapters covering each of the places Tocqueville visited, the book allows the reader to hear Tocqueville's words while following in his footsteps.

Each chapter includes a brief description of the city or town, an excerpt from what Tocqueville wrote about it, what he and Beaumont did there, and what sights can still be seen today. Also included are information on population and major industries, telephone numbers and web addresses for local historical societies and visitors' bureaus, and comparisons of the town as it is today with the way it was in Tocqueville's time. Replete with colorful anecdotes and fascinating detail and supplemented by one hundred illustrations--many of them Beaumont's original sketches--the book offers a unique blend of past and present, of practical tourist tips and thought-provoking historical insights.

The chapter on Newport, Rhode Island, for example, begins with the story of Tocqueville and Beaumont's arrival from Europe, half-starved and thirsty after a thirty-seven-day ocean voyage on which the ship's captain had badly mismanaged rations. (The inn where the apologetic captain treated them to dinner is still standing.) Among the Frenchmen's first impressions: Americans were "entirely commercial"--a conclusion based on the small town's extraordinary number of banks (five by Beaumont's count, among them the Citizens Bank, still open today). Newport, we learn, is also home to America's first synagogue, an enduring symbol of Rhode Island's unique beginning as a place of religious tolerance, and the nation's oldest library. Also explained is the origin of the pineapple as a symbol of hospitality (Newport sailors set them outside their front door to show their neighbors they had returned from the Indies and had fruit to share). The entry concludes with directions, suggestions on where to stay, and tips on tours by foot, car, or boat.

An invaluable guide to a journey of national self-discovery, In the Footsteps of Tocqueville is the perfect companion for armchair traveler and tourist alike.

From the entry on Ossining, New York:

"The Frenchmen relished the town's natural beauty. Ossining's views of the Hudson are spectacular and Beaumont captured them in his sketch book. (For a panorama of the river, go to Louis Engle Park at the foot of Sing Sing on Westerly Road.) At 7 p.m. each evening the duo went swimming in the river. Later, they socialized with the locals. (Beaumont complained that he heard a plethora of painful musical recitals by women in town.) But the people of Ossining were impressed with the two young men. The Westchester Herald described them as 'gentlemen of engaging manners, of first rate talents.' The house where they boarded still stands (34 State Street). Now a wood-working company, the house has gained additions and lost levels since 1831. It is made of Sing Sing marble, which is actually a pale limestone that was quarried by prison inmates... "

Book Description

" Tocqueville: A Biography is a book of considerable importance, primarily because of its comprehensive treatment of both Tocqueville's public life and his private life--including many details necessarily absent from the two previous biographical essays."--John Lukacs,The New Yorker

In this first major biography of the author ofDemocracy in America, André Jardin traces Alexis de Tocqueville's eventful life from his birth in 1805 to aristocratic parents in post-revolutionary France, through his trip to antebellum America as a young man, his adventures in Algeria, and his political career in France's Second Republic, to his return to writing and the publication of his other classic workL'Ancien régime et la révolution in 1856. Jardin also offers an illuminating critical analysis ofDemocracy in America, arguing that the concerns for just government that inform this famous work dominated Tocqueville's thought throughout his life.

"His scholarship is meticulous, his judgment careful and fair, his style plain and clear... Jardin has put all students of Tocqueville deep in his debt... More than any of his contemporaries--more than Marx, more than Mill, much more than Mazzini, Comte or Proudhon--[Tocqueville] is the man for the late twentieth century. It is the triumph of André Jardin's biography that it shows so clearly how this is so."--Hugh Brogan,Times Literary Supplement

"Mr. Jardin is the complete master of his subject. His portrait of the writer is lucid and well composed, his comments are penetrating, and he draws on a wide range of unfamiliar material... Mr. Jardin is telling a story that has been told many times before. But he manages to recapture much of its original freshness, and he makes effective use, as elsewhere, of previously unpublished documents."--John Gross,New York Times

"Jardin gives us a concise and balanced account of Tocqueville's public positions and passions. He does this with economy, grace, thoroughness, and reliability."--George Armstrong Kelly,New Republic

Customer Reviews (1)

Delightful surprise
This is a wonderful biography. I knew that Tocqueville was a great thinker, but I thought that his life would be boring (are thoughts worth being told? Yes, this book indeed proves it). However, the author manages to narrate Tocqueville's life and times in such a way that I could not put it down, and read it in less than a week's time. So I may not think of a better book to commemorate Tocqueville's bicentennial anniversary and I fully agree and endorse, as my own, the other reviewer's opinion. ... Read more

Book Description
Tocqueville, Covenant, and the Democratic Revolution examines the intellectual and institutional context in which Alexis de Tocqueville developed his understanding of American political culture, with its profound influence on his democratic theory. This book also examines Tocqueville's claim that religious beliefs are among the most important determinants of a people's social structure and political institutions. ... Read more

Book Description
Alexis de Tocqueville is best known as the author of Democracy in America and The Ancien Régime and the Revolution. Yet among his contemporaries he was also esteemed for his brilliant investigations on social issues such as prison reform, pauperism and the plight of abandoned children. This study explores the intellectual and social context of these neglected yet startlingly innovative writings and it reveals how they proved central to the composition of those works for which Tocqueville is best known. ... Read more

Book Description
Alexis de Tocqueville, Francis Lieber, and Walter Bagehot are all mid-19th-century liberals who both commented on and helped to shape public affairs in the three premier liberal countries of the time: France, the United States, and Britain. Each also had an interest in international politics that stemmed from certain aspects of his broader political philosophy. But what did liberalism mean in this context--spreading the benefits of liberty, building an international society, or practicing tolerant non-intervention? These three men demonstrate the varieties of liberal thought of that time, and in so doing illustrate some important choices facing our own. ... Read more