The author gives the motives behind his analysis of American democracy. It revolves around the situation of France and its attempts at solving the conflicts between the bourgeoisie and the displaced but not surrendering Nobility.
This is one of the finest volumes in Oxford's PAST MASTERSX series. In barely 140 pages, Larry Siedentop deftly conveys the high points of the life of Alexis de Tocqueville (more skilfully, in fact, than Andre Jardin's thorough but ponderous life), and also presents a superbly lucid sketch of Tocqueville's political thought.
