Book Description
This is a new and highly accessible rendition of one of the classics of English political writing. Paul Smith presents the text of the first (1867) edition of Bagehot's The English Constitution, together with the original conclusion, as well as Bagehot's long introduction to the second edition of 1872. All the usual student-friendly features of the Cambridge Texts series are present, including a concise explanatory introduction, select bibliography and brief biographies of key figures, as well as annotation designed to explain to modern readers some of Bagehot's more arcane contemporary allusions. ... Read more

Book Description
Alexis de Tocqueville, Francis Lieber, and Walter Bagehot are all mid-19th-century liberals who both commented on and helped to shape public affairs in the three premier liberal countries of the time: France, the United States, and Britain. Each also had an interest in international politics that stemmed from certain aspects of his broader political philosophy. But what did liberalism mean in this context--spreading the benefits of liberty, building an international society, or practicing tolerant non-intervention? These three men demonstrate the varieties of liberal thought of that time, and in so doing illustrate some important choices facing our own. ... Read more