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More's Utopia and Utopian Literature (Cliffs Notes)

Harold M. Priest

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Wow! Who would have thought! 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 9 people found this review helpful.

I wrote my senior thesis on Utopia and The Republic, illustrating the common theme of what makes a Utopian culture. Believe it or not, the Cliffs Notes had the most original and best thought out analysis that I read, AND BELIEVE ME I read a lot on Utopian Literature. If you are reading Utopia, I suggest the Cliffs Notes.

Great Survey of Utopian Literature & Ideals 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Why in the world am I reviewing a set of Cliff notes? Mainly because I was intrigued & impressed by the sections devoted to the history of the utopian literature genre. Those sections, which gave a historical and literary context to More's work, made reading these notes very worthwhile. Of course these notes also cover the standard topics you'd expect from the Cliff Notes series, such as the chapter-by-chapter summary of "Utopia" and a biography of Sir Thomas More. But I think the notes' broader survey of utopian ideals that makes them interesting. They show us how the theme appears in everything from Plato's Republic to Gulliver's Travels to Russian Communism and elsewhere. And of course, since they're Cliff notes, they're a quick read.

Two-thirds of the notes are devoted to analyzing More's book, which was first published in 1516. More was the first to coin the term "utopia", which literally means nowhere. He describes a fictional society where people work 5 hour workdays, mostly in the trades. They relax with reading, lectures, and parlor games. They are under benevolent rule by carefully selected officials of superior intelligence and integrity. They use uniform, unpretentious clothing and housing, and dine in communal dining halls. There is no money or private property; every man works for the good of the community, rather than just himself. Each is free from anxieties, knowing he is rich in the sense he owns his share of everything.

The notes go on to discuss how some have tried to bring utopian ideals to the real world. For example, the Fourierism movement 1830's and 1840's created many experimental communities in the US. These communities had emphasized joint labor, the communal raising of children, simplicity, uniformity of dress, pacifism, rigid codes of behavior, and rule by wise elders as officials. There's also a section in the notes on the relationship of Utopia to Communism; the two are of course similar, but definitely not identical.

The notes also cover the anti-utopias described in 1984 and Brave New World. The societies in both these novels are dysfunctional, though in different ways. In 1984, as you probably remember, the population is ruled by force - a totalitarian political party controls the masses through propaganda, surveillance cameras, secret police, and torture. There are historical parallels here to Stalinist Russia, or WWII Germany. In contrast, Brave New World is about ruling the population through pleasures; universal happiness is provided through elaborate sports, entertainment, and ritualized social activities as well as happiness-inducing drugs. Social stability is maintained through a class system created through selective artificial gestation & elaborate psychological conditioning so people accept their roles and get along with others. Some say that the "Brave New World" reflects some features that are found in today's capitalistic societies.

Overall, though, I thought the sections of these notes about the literary history of the Utopian theme, as well as the real-world examples of utopian communities, were even more interesting than the sections devoted to More's Utopia itself. If those themes seem interesting to you, then by all means pick up a copy of these notes & read the ~25 pages devoted to those topics.

Editorial Review:

Thomas More was a 16th-century humanist writer who authored religious and political tracts. This book is a masterful and witty story that describes a society ruled by collective reason rather than by individual power and greed.

How to Start Your Own Country

Erwin S. Strauss

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Tough Read, Good Book 5 out of 5 stars.
11 of 13 people found this review helpful.

I found this book to be quite entertaining, I myself started my own country with the help of this book (The Principality of Saint Corjimia). Although this book is wirtten with em' big words and all, its a great read. I also noticed you get funny looks when reading this book in public.

Outdated but accurate - and funny too! 5 out of 5 stars.
10 of 10 people found this review helpful.

Unlike most of the projects described, this book is pretty realistic about the problems facing prospective nation founders. It contains an excellent compendium of past projects, with some amusing commentary. While the title is rather overstating the content, it does provide some decent ideas about how to go about this difficult task. The material is dated, but at least its not absurdly utopian or impractical like some of its competitors (ie Marshall Savage).

Expect humor pointed at foolish projects, some hard talk about realism, and some good ideas to get started. Don't expect a true handbook or fleshed out ideas, its a short book.

Editorial Review:

Can you really start your own country? Erwin Strauss shows you five different methods for doing just that, as well as everything you need to know about sovereignty, national defense, diplomacy, raising revenue and recruiting settlers. Includes dozens of new-country success stories. Why settle for being king of your castle when you can be king of your own country?

Modern Tyrants

Daniel Chirot

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Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Ideology Outkills Greed 5 out of 5 stars.
11 of 11 people found this review helpful.

The author does a splendid job of analyzing a substantial number of modern dictators, both great and petty, to illustrate their commonalities and differences and to show what drives them to do what they do. Like Dostoevsky, Chirot shows us that ideology can be deadly and that it can drive political leaders to commit the most heinous crimes. It is, as he points out, their false sense of scientific certainty that pushes them to ignore not only moral rules, but even the constraints of reality and practicality. The result has too often been regimes that have had to kill in order to sustain their unrealistic fantasy-land regimes. There may be differences between the Hitlers and the Stalins of the world, but there are also too many disturbing similarities.

The author is to be commended for including the views of Nobel Prize-winning economist Hayek in his book, but instead of just utilizing the ideas in Hayek's THE ROAD TO SERFDOM, he should also have used Hayek's THE COUNTER-REVOLUTION OF SCIENCE. In this book, Hayek showed that the techniques of the physical sciences cannot (and certainly should not) be used in the social sciences--they simply don't apply there. But the idea that "science" can be used to construct a perfect world (or even a "better society") was a staple concept among 19th century European political writers and theorists, Marx being only one example. What a terrible mess was made of the world when this mistaken notion was put into practice! Chirot's book is a valuable addition to political knowledge, because he does not hesitate to point this out, and to show how (and WHY)ideology can lead to mass murder. Well worth reading.

Editorial Review:

Along with its much vaunted progress in scientific and economic realms, the twentieth century has witnessed the rise of the most brutal and oppressive regimes in the history of humankind. Even with the collapse of Marxism, current instances of "ethnic cleansing" remind us that tyranny persists in our own age and shows no sign of abating. Daniel Chirot offers an important and timely study of modern tyrants, both revealing the forces that allow them to come to power and helping us to predict where they may arise in the future.

On Democracy

Robert A. Dahl

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Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

"Democracy has been discussed off and on for about twenty-five hundred years, enough time to provide a tidy set of ideas about democracy on which everyone, or nearly everyone, could agree. For better or worse, that is not the case."

Freshman poly-sci instructors need fret no longer, however; as an introduction to democratic principles, Robert A. Dahl's On Democracy is rather tidy, indeed. Dahl, an emeritus professor of political science at Yale, covers questions like "Where and how did democracy develop?" in accessible--almost chatty--prose, often taking the time to say a few "words about words," in which he examines, for example, the historical connotations of "democracy" and "republic" (it turns out that until James Madison declared there was a political distinction to be made, the only difference between the two was their etymological roots). Experienced readers may find their eyes glazing over at pronouncements such as "Democratic institutions are less likely to develop in a country subject to intervention by another country hostile to democracy in that country," but if you're looking for a comprehensive yet brief overview of how democracy works, On Democracy fits the bill.

Democratic Governance

James G. March

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Editorial Review:

In this thought-provoking new work, long-term collaborators James March and Johan Olsen construct a brilliant foundation for thinking about the broad theoretical concerns of democratic governance. Building on the work that began with their seminal essay on "The New Institutionalism" in The American Political Science Review in 1984 and continued in Rediscovering Institutions, March and Olsen challenge key aspects of standard contemporary thinking. While conventional thought is based primarily on the premises of individualism and self-interest, the authors argue that exchange theories of democracy are incomplete, reflecting only a partial view of history and human action.

Going beyond democratic theory, March and Olsen draw on social science to examine how political institutions create and sustain democratic solidarity, identities, capabilities, accounts, and adaptiveness; how they can maintain and elaborate democratic values and beliefs -- and how governance might be made honorable, just, and effective. They show how democratic governance is both proactive and reactive -- creating interests and power as well as responding to them -- and how it shapes not only an understanding of the past and an ability to learn from it, but even history itself. By exploring how governance transcends the creation of coalitions that reflect existing preferences, resources, rights, and rules, the authors reveal how it includes the actual formation of these defining principles of social and political life.

Which institutions serve democracy best? March and Olsen do not offer neat answers. Instead, while recognizing the complications involved in fulfilling democratic ideals, they ask how individuals and societies can achieve institutions that can make politics civil, accountable, capable, and transformative.

In what is likely to be received as a seminal work, March and Olsen have established a comprehensive framework for discussion and debate that will continue to be read in management, political science, education, psychology, and sociology into the 21st century.

The Argument and the Action of Plato's Laws

Leo Strauss, Plato

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The posthumous publication of The Argument and the Action of Plato's "Laws" was compiled shortly before the death of Leo Strauss in 1973. Strauss offers an insightful and instructive reading through careful probing of Plato's classic text.

"Strauss's The Argument and the Action of Plato's 'Laws' reflects his interest in political thought, his dogged method of following the argument of the Laws step by step, and his vigorous defense of this dialogue's integrity in respect to the ideals of the Republic."--Cross Currents

"The unique characteristics of this commentary on the Laws reflect the care and precision which were the marks of Professor Strauss's efforts to understand the complex thoughts of other men."--Allan D. Nelson, Canadian Journal of Political Science

"Thorough and provocative, an important addition to Plato scholarship."--Library Journal

"The major purpose of the commentary is to provide a reading of the dialogue which displays its structural arrangement and the continuity of the argument."--J. W. Dy, Bibliographical Bulletin of Philosophy

"The reader of Strauss's book is indeed guided closely through the whole text."-- M. J. Silverthorne, The Humanities Association Review

Leo Strauss (1899-1973) was the Robert Maynard Hutchins Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of political science at the University of Chicago.

The Future of Iraq, Updated Edition: Dictatorship, Democracy, or Division?

Liam Anderson, Gareth Stansfield

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Iraq History 101 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This book should have been required reading for those eager to enter Iraq, overthrow Saddam Hussein, and install a Western-style democracy. The book has three main points: (a) a history of Iraq from its flawed beginnings after World War I; (b) an analysis of each of the three main groups--Sunnis, Shia, and Kurds; (c) an examination of different scenarios that might illuminate the future of Iraq.

Each element is well done and provides context for the reader interested in something more than current events weith respect to Iraq. The end result of reading this book is to wonder at the arrogance of the war planners who apparently did not consider historical and ethnic and religious context as that critical for the outcome of the war. As one of the neocons once mentioned, reality is not so important to the United States; the country can create its own reality. To this point, the reality being created on the ground in Iraq is far different than it might have been had history acted as a guide.

Editorial Review:

Knowledge of Iraq+s history and politics is crucial to understanding the challenges America faces in its mission to bring democracy to Iraq. This trenchant analysis of why stability in Iraq is uncertain suggests a controversial, little-discussed solution: managed partition. This up-to-date edition provides basic information that will frame this ongoing debate.

Revolution in the Americas

Barry Barlow

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Editorial Review:

Tracing the emergence of modern revolutions to the early 1500s and setting the stage by comparing and contrasting the main revolutionary movements from the Renaissance to the twentieth century, this book examines modern revolutionary movements in Latin America.

The Republic: The Complete and Unabridged Jowett Translation

Plato

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Plato's Republic 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 8 people found this review helpful.

Republic by Plato complete and unabridged Jowett Translation about the classic work on the ideal commonwealth which starts out as an inquiry into the meaning of justice and turns into an examination of the Just Man or Just State.

This translation is the truist translation yet... it captures Plato for Plato as he writes as Socrates who questions to get answers. I found this writing to be part of individual life as each performs his appropriate function as "the world goes around," with time being eternity.

This book and this particular translation seems to be the best as Jowett knows his Plato, very straight forward and easily understood as eternal reason.

Editorial Review:

(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)

Toward the end of the astonishing period of Athenian creativity that furnished Western civilization with the greater part of its intellectual, artistic, and political wealth, Plato wrote The Republic, his discussion of the nature and meaning of justice and of the ideal state and its ruler. All subsequent European thinking about these subjects owes its character, directly or indirectly, to this most famous (and most accessible) of the Platonic dialogues. Although he describes a society that looks to some like the ideal human community and to others like a totalitarian nightmare, in the course of his description Plato raises enduringly relevant questions about politics, art, education, and the general conduct of life.

Translated by A. D. Lindsay


From the Hardcover edition.

Machiavelli The Prince (Crofts Classics)

Niccolo Machiavelli

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Total reviews: 284 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

When Lorenzo de' Medici seized control of the Florentine Republic in 1512, he summarily fired the Secretary to the Second Chancery of the Signoria and set in motion a fundamental change in the way we think about politics. The person who held the aforementioned office with the tongue-twisting title was none other than Niccolò Machiavelli, who, suddenly finding himself out of a job after 14 years of patriotic service, followed the career trajectory of many modern politicians into punditry. Unable to become an on-air political analyst for a television network, he only wrote a book. But what a book The Prince is. Its essential contribution to modern political thought lies in Machiavelli's assertion of the then revolutionary idea that theological and moral imperatives have no place in the political arena. "It must be understood," Machiavelli avers, "that a prince ... cannot observe all of those virtues for which men are reputed good, because it is often necessary to act against mercy, against faith, against humanity, against frankness, against religion, in order to preserve the state." With just a little imagination, readers can discern parallels between a 16th-century principality and a 20th-century presidency. --Tim Hogan