Alexis de Tocqueville: Democracy in America (LOA #147)

An exclusive new translation of the most perceptive and influential book ever written about American politics and society-"the bible on democracy" (The Texas Observer)This Library of America volume presentsdeTocqueville's masterpiece in an entirely new translation-the first to fully capture his style and provide a rigorous, faithful rendering of his profound ideas and observationsAlexisdeTocqueville, a young aristocratic French lawyer, came to the United States in 1831 to study its penitentiary systems. His nine-month visit and subsequent reading and reflection resulted in this landmark masterpiece of political observation and analysis.In Democracy in America, Tocqueville vividly describes the unprecedented social equality he found in America and explores its implications for European society in the emerging modern era. His book provides enduring insight into the political consequences of widespread property ownership, the potential dangers to liberty inherent in majority rule, the vital role of religion in American life, and the importance of civil institutions in an individualistic culture dominated by the pursuit of material self-interest. He also probes the deep differences between the free and slave states, writing prophetically of racism, bigotry, and prejudice in the United States.Brought to life by Arthur Goldhammer's clear, fluid, and vigorous translation, this volume of Democracy in America is the first to fully capture Tocqueville's achievements both as an accomplished literary stylist and as a profound political thinker.

“Tocqueville enjoys a unique position in the history of literature and thought: a philosopher also notable as a literary stylist, he is the only Frenchman who can claim to be part of the American canon as well as the French.”

Winner of the 2004 Translation Prize awarded by the French-American Foundation

“This new translation by Goldhammer gets to the heart of Tocqueville’s words.”
—Library Journal

“It’s hard to think of a work that has so influenced our understanding of the United States as this—still the most authoritative, reflective set of observations about American institutions and the American character ever written . . . this translation by Goldhammer, the dean of American translators from the French, accomplishes what it’s hard to believe possible: it lends to this unalterably grave work some zest. Never slipping into slang, it gives a colloquial cast, fitting for our time, to a work normally rendered only with high solemnity. The Library of America claims that its editions will stay in print forever. This one’s likely to stand that test.”
—Publishers Weekly

Arthur Goldhammer is the award-winning translator of more than eighty French works in history, literature, art history, classical studies, philosophy, psychology, and social science. Olivier Zunz is Commonwealth Professor of History at the University of Virginia, and the author of numerous books including Why the American Century? He has also co-edited The Tocqueville Reader (Blackwell) and is president of the Tocqueville Society.

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