UID:
almahu_9949481300202882
Format:
1 online resource (472 p.) :
,
37 color illus. 2 maps.
ISBN:
9780691235455
,
9783110993899
Content:
A definitive biography of the French aristocrat who became one of democracy's greatest championsIn 1831, at the age of twenty-five, Alexis de Tocqueville made his fateful journey to America, where he observed the thrilling reality of a functioning democracy. From that moment onward, the French aristocrat would dedicate his life as a writer and politician to ending despotism in his country and bringing it into a new age. In this authoritative and groundbreaking biography, leading Tocqueville expert Olivier Zunz tells the story of a radical thinker who, uniquely charged by the events of his time, both in America and France, used the world as a laboratory for his political ideas.Placing Tocqueville's dedication to achieving a new kind of democracy at the center of his life and work, Zunz traces Tocqueville's evolution into a passionate student and practitioner of liberal politics across a trove of correspondence with intellectuals, politicians, constituents, family members, and friends. While taking seriously Tocqueville's attempts to apply the lessons of Democracy in America to French politics, Zunz shows that the United States, and not only France, remained central to Tocqueville's thought and actions throughout his life. In his final years, with France gripped by an authoritarian regime and America divided by slavery, Tocqueville feared that the democratic experiment might be failing. Yet his passion for democracy never weakened.Giving equal attention to the French and American sources of Tocqueville's unique blend of political philosophy and political action, The Man Who Understood Democracy offers the richest, most nuanced portrait yet of a man who, born between the worlds of aristocracy and democracy, fought tirelessly for the only system that he believed could provide both liberty and equality.
Note:
Frontmatter --
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contents --
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Prologue --
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1. Learning to Doubt --
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2. "Everything about the Americans Is Extraordinary" --
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3. A Crash Course in Democracy --
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4. Writing America in Reverse Order: Prisons First, Then Freedom --
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5. Testing American Equality against British Inequality --
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6. When Political Theory Becomes Politics --
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7. A Synthesis of Thought and Action --
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8. Abolitionist, Nationalist, and Colonialist --
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9. Crushed at the Helm --
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10. A Revolution "Fully Formed from the Society That It Was to Destroy" --
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11. Catholicity and Liberty --
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Epilogue --
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Note on Sources --
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Notes --
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Acknowledgments --
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Index
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Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
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In English.
In:
EBOOK PACKAGE COMPLETE 2022 English, De Gruyter, 9783110993899
In:
EBOOK PACKAGE COMPLETE 2022, De Gruyter, 9783110994810
In:
EBOOK PACKAGE Philosophy 2022 English, De Gruyter, 9783110992762
In:
EBOOK PACKAGE Philosophy 2022, De Gruyter, 9783110992755
In:
Princeton University Press Complete eBook-Package 2022, De Gruyter, 9783110749731
Additional Edition:
ISBN 9780691173979
Language:
English
Subjects:
Political Science
Keywords:
Biografie
DOI:
10.1515/9780691235455
URL:
https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691235455?locatt=mode:legacy
URL:
https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9780691235455
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