What do you think?
Rate this book
On Politics: A History of Political Thought: Herodotus to Machiavelli
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 9, 2020
A fantastic overview of political philosophy from about 500 BC to 1500 AD — knowing some of the authors beforehand helps a great deal, but is not required. This is a dense book, and probably only recommended for those with a healthy reading appetite. I’m excited to endure the next book, but before that, I’ll be reading some of the political philosophers from this book more deeply.
May 8, 2018
The essays collected in this volume are of varying quality: the preliminary ones on Herodotus, Plato and Aristotle are gems, as is the later one on St. Augustine-- which claims for Augustine a stance as bleak and pessimistic as any Schopenhauer or Hobbes expounded. The essay on Cicero, though interesting, rarely rises above the introductory level and many of the later essays, especially those dealing with medieval philosophy are more historical than philosophical.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews