Major Works

• Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and Their Decline

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  Recommended edition: Montesquieu, Charles de Secondat, baron de. Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and Their Decline. Translated by David Lowenthal. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1999.
  Except from the recommended edition: It is not chance that rules the world. Ask the Romans, who had a continuous sequence of successes when they were guided by a certain plan, and an uninterrupted sequence of reverses when they followed another. There are… More

Other Works

• The Temple of Gnidus

  - Montesquieu, Charles de Secondat, baron de. "The Temple of Gnidus." Vol. 4 of The Complete Works of M. de Montesquieu. London: T. Evans, 1777.
  Excerpt: An ambassador of France at the Ottoman Porte, known by his taste for literature, having purchased many Greek manuscripts, brought them to France; and, some of them falling into my hands, I found among them the work of which I here give a translation.… More

Commentary

• Virtuous Republics and Glorious Monarchies: Two Models in Montesquieu’s Political Thought

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  Keohane, Nannerl O. “Virtuous Republics and Glorious Monarchies: Two Models in Montesquieu’s Political Thought.” Political Studies 20, no. 4 (1972): 383–396.

• Virtue, Commerce, and History: Essays on Political Thought and History, Chiefly in the Eighteenth Century

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  Pocock, J. G. A. Virtue, Commerce, and History: Essays on Political Thought and History, Chiefly in the Eighteenth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985.
  From the publisher: A collection of essays from one of the leading figures in the study of the history of political thought. Includes essays concerned principally with the history of British political thought in the 18th century, several of which have been… More

• Montesquieu and the New Republicanism

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  Shklar, Judith N. "Montesquieu and the New Republicanism." In Machiavelli and Republicanism, edited by Gisela Bock, Quentin Skinner, and Maurizio Viroli. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
  Shklar analyzes Montesquieu’s distinctive republicanism and its legacy, especially in relation to that of Machiavelli.

• The Passions and the Interests: Political Arguments for Capitalism before Its Triumph

  - Hirschman, Albert O. The Passions and the Interests: Political Arguments for Capitalism before Its Triumph. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997.
  In this volume, Albert Hirschman reconstructs the intellectual climate of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to illuminate the intricate ideological transformation that occurred, wherein the pursuit of material interests –so long condemned as the… More

• The Politics of Distinction and Disobedience: Honor and the Defense of Liberty in Montesquieu

  - Krause, Sharon. “The Politics of Distinction and Disobedience: Honor and the Defense of Liberty in Montesquieu.” Polity 31, no. 3 (April 1, 1999): 469–499.
  Elaborating Montesquieu’s concept of honor illuminates a dimension of his liberalism that has been neglected by prior commentary, and calls attention to a form of political motivation that has been overlooked in contemporary political theory. While… More

• The Machiavellian Moment: Florentine Political Thought and the Atlantic Republican Tradition

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  Pocock, J. G. A. The Machiavellian Moment: Florentine Political Thought and the Atlantic Republican Tradition. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2003.
  From the publisher: The Machiavellian Moment is a classic study of the consequences for modern historical and social consciousness of the ideal of the classical republic revived by Machiavelli and other thinkers of Renaissance Italy. J.G.A. Pocock suggests… More

• Montesquieu and His Legacy

  - Kingston, Rebecca, ed. Montesquieu and His Legacy. Albany: SUNY Press, 2009.
  From the publisher: Montesquieu (1689-1755) is regarded as one of the most important thinkers of the Enlightenment. His Lettres persanes and L’Esprit des lois have been read by students and scholars throughout the last two centuries. While many have… More

• A Virtue for Courageous Minds: Moderation in French Political Thought, 1748-1830

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  Crăiuțu, Aurelian. A Virtue for Courageous Minds: Moderation in French Political Thought, 1748-1830. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012.
  Political moderation is the touchstone of democracy, which could not function without compromise and bargaining, yet it is one of the most understudied concepts in political theory. How can we explain this striking paradox? Why do we often underestimate the… More

• Montesquieu and Modern Republicanism

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  Douglass, Robin. “Montesquieu and Modern Republicanism.” Political Studies 60, no. 3 (2012): 703–719.
  In this article I explore Montesquieu’s discussion of republics and the constitution of England in order to question the extent to which he should be accorded a central place in a tradition of modern republicanism. This involves challenging Paul… More