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"Nothing is more wonderful than the art of being free, but nothing is harder to learn how to use than freedom." -Alexis de TocquevilleAlexis de Tocqueville's four-volume Democracy in America is commonly said to be among the most comprehensive and insightful books ever written... Read Full Overview

In 1831, Alexis de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont spent nine months in the U.S. studying American prisons on behalf of the French government. They investigated not just the prison system but indeed every aspect of American public and private life--the political, economic,... Read Full Overview

A New Abridgement of a Classic on the American Experiment.

As debates rage over the future of America and the country's relationship to its past, there is no better time to examine the American culture from the perspective of a nineteenth century French... Read Full Overview

In the early 19th century, a French sociologist and political scientist undertook a seven-month journey throughout the newly formed United States. Alexis de Tocqueville surveyed the young nation's religious, political, and economic character and reported his findings in two volumes,... Read Full Overview

This classic analysis of America's unique political character is quoted heavily by politicians and perennially pops up on history professors' reading lists.

Democracy in America has had the singular honor of being even to this day the work that political commentators of every stripe refer to when they seek to draw large conclusions about the society of the United States. Alexis de Tocqueville, a young French aristocrat,... Read Full Overview

This new abridged translation of Democracy in America reflects the rich Tocqueville scholarship of the past forty years, and restores chapters central to Tocqueville's analysis absent from previous abridgments--including his discussions of enlightened self-interest and the public's... Read Full Overview

In 1831, the then twenty-seven year old Alexis de Tocqueville, was sent with Gustave de Beaumont to America by the French Government to study and make a report on the American prison system. Over a period of nine months the two traveled all over America making notes not only... Read Full Overview

Abridged, with an Introduction by Patrick Renshaw. Democracy in America is a classic of political philosophy. Hailed by John Stuart Mill and Horace Greely as the finest book ever written on the nature of democracy, it continues to be an influential text on both sides of the Atlantic,... Read Full Overview

Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-59) came to America in 1831 to see what a great republic was like. What struck him most was the country's equality of conditions, its democracy . The book he wrote on his return to France, Democracy in America , is both the best ever written on democracy... Read Full Overview

In 1831, Alexis de Tocqueville and his friend Gustave de Beaumont visited the United States. From Tocqueville's copious notes of what he had seen and heard came the classic text De la D mocratie en Am rique, first published in two large volumes, one in 1835, the second in... Read Full Overview