Democracy in America | 
| Author: Alexis De Tocqueville
Creators: Harvey C. Mansfield, Delba Winthrop
Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
Category: Book
List Price: $22.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 12371
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 722
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.3
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6 x 1.9
ISBN: 0226805360
Dewey Decimal Number: 321
EAN: 9780226805368
ASIN: 0226805360
Publication Date: April 1, 2002
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Product Description
When it was first published last year, Harvey Mansfield and Delba Winthrop's new translation of Democracy in America was lauded in all quarters as the finest and most definitive edition of Tocqueville's classic thus far—complete with the most faithful and readable translation to date, impeccable annotations of unfamiliar references, and a masterful introduction placing the work and its author in the broader contexts of political philosophy and statesmanship. Mansfield and Winthrop's astonishing efforts have not only captured the elegance, subtlety, and profundity of Tocqueville's original, but also give us some sense of how very essential this masterpiece continues to be.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
 Indispensable November 13, 2008
For years, I knew "Democracy in America" as a real classic. But sometimes I omit reading classics. Fortunately, just now, after 173 years of the first french edition, I have as an argentine reader, discovered it as the most essential work about democracy and America. I think Tocqueville's masterpiece is an indispensable guide to understanding american national character. Deserves the faithful translation and the contribution of a deep introduction and comments of this fine edition.
Treatise on American Democracy February 8, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a classic treatise by a French aristocrat who comprehensively examines the underpinnings of American democatic institutions. Including the rights and powers provided by the Consitution, forms of governments, and concepts of freedom and equality. In this book he also analyzes the influence of democratic values on intellectual movements, customs and political society. This treatise was originally written in 1835.
 Get the Library of America Edition November 27, 2007
12 out of 14 found this review helpful
This 170-year-old book by a young French aristocrat remains one of the most frequently quoted analyses of what Toqueville famously calls America's "habits of the heart."
If you're interested in reading Toqueville for yourself and not through the eyes of some commentator, what version should you get?
Instead of this one, I recommend the Library of America edition Tocqueville: Democracy in America (Library of America). First, the translation by Arthur Goldhammer is smoother and more comprehensible, without informality or paraphrase. Second, the Goldhammer translation is not burdened by political leanings or excessively scholarly apparatus. Third--and not unimportant--the Library of America volume is smaller and easier to hold and provides a more pleasant reading experience.
150 Years after It was Written ... October 22, 2007
... Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America still accurately describes political and social America, and has turned out to be prophetic of modern problems. This book, along with Alexander Hamilton's Federalist Papers, remain the key to understanding American constitutional theory and political culture. Get 'em both!
Great Edition of a Great Book January 9, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is one of the few real classics on American Politics, the knowledge of which is essential to every politically-active citizen (which, indeed, should be every single one of them). It is so often quoted and referred to, and yet so often out of context, that one really needs to have read it in order to understand whether even modern arguments that touch upon its themes are legitimate. And that's not to speak of the great style with which Tocqueville discusses such the two forms he envisions emerging out of an uncontrolled democracy--the classical tyranny of the majority, and the soft tyranny of the bureaucracy upon an atomized society (the second being also treated by Mill in his On Liberty). For the last factor alone, this book warrants a reading, although, some of its chapters are indeed very dry.
The five stars, however, are owed also in great part to this particular version of the book. The paper, ink, and design are of superb quality, for one. The long introduction goes to great lengths to introduce the reader to Tocqueville as a person, as a writer, and to the greater structure behind the very book (something every single introduction ought to do as well as this one). The index is quite extensive, and I have found just about everything I've sought through it. Most important is the translation that this edition offers--it should by all means be considered the standard one, much as Crawley's for Thucydides' Peloponnesian War. No other book will try harder to explain to you why it uses the word mores, and what it means in the Tocquevillian context.
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