Poisoning the Minds of the Lower Orders

by Don Herzog

Book Overview

Conservatism was born as an anguished attack on democracy. So argues Don Herzog in this arrestingly detailed exploration of England's responses to the French Revolution. Poisoning the Minds of the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0691048312
• ISBN13: 9780691048314
• Release Date: September 1998
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Length: 560 Pages
• Weight: 2.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

An important work of history and political theory

This book is not for the fainthearted or for those who need to be told repeatedly what it is they are supposed to be learning. Hence, I suspect, the reaction of some readers to the text. Herzog spells out his purpose rather clearly in the preface, and he assumes that readers will be intelligent enough not to need to be retold over and over again. He then proceeds to demonstrate his point with an astonishing and fascinating collection of evidence from the period. It is a perfectly wonderful read, particularly for readers who are tired of abstract theory. What makes this work so powerful is its focus on and attention to details, which make the theoretical points much more powerfully by fully contextualizing them. The evidence is what makes this work worthwhile--as well as a fun read.

interesting, intelligent, and insightful

A brilliant and original piece of work. In this book Herzog tackles conservatism with the same intellectual adeptness that characterized his treatment of various aspects of liberal theory in "Happy Slaves".