Liberty and Property: A Social History of Western Political Thought from the Renaissance to Enlightenment
The formation of the modern state, the rise of capitalism, the Renaissance and Reformation, the scientific revolution and the Age of Enlightenment have all been attributed to the “early modern” period. Nearly everything about its history remains controversial, but one thing is certain: it left a rich and provocative legacy of political ideas unmatched in Western history. The concepts of liberty, equality, property, human rights and revolution born in those turbulent centuries continue to shape, and to limit, political discourse today. Assessing the work and background of figures such as Machiavelli, Luther, Calvin, Spinoza, the Levellers, Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau, Ellen Wood vividly explores the ideas of the canonical thinkers, not as philosophical abstractions but as passionately engaged responses to the social conflicts of their day.
Paperback, 336 pages
ISBN: 9781844677528
February 2012
$26.95 / £16.99 / $38.50CAN
Discussions
Begin a discussionOther books by Ellen Meiksins Wood
-
Citizens to Lords
A major new history of Western political thought as it evolved through conflict and communities.
-
Empire of Capital
What does imperialism mean in the absence of colonial conquest and imperial rule?
-
The Retreat from Class
Exploring the connections between class, ideology and politics.
-
Peasant-Citizen & Slave
“Surprising and refreshing.”—Robin Osborne, Magdalen College, Oxford