early works to 1800

Presents fifteenth-century Italian leader Niccolo Machiavelli's treatise on political power, statecraft, and the qualities of the ideal ruler, and includes historical context, explanatory notes, excerpts of criticism, discussion questions, and other study tools.

Jonathan Swift's satirical novel was first published in 1726, yet it is still valid today. Gulliver's Travels describes the four fantastic voyages of Lemuel Gulliver, a kindly ship's surgeon. Swift portrays him as an observer, a reporter, and a victim of circumstance. His travels take him to Lilliput where he is a giant observing tiny people. In Brobdingnag, the tables are reversed and he is the tiny person in a land of giants where he is exhibited as a curiosity at markets and fairs. The flying island of Laputa is the scene of his next voyage. The people plan and plot as their country lies in ruins. It is a world of illusion and distorted values. The fourth and final voyage takes him to the home of the Houyhnhnms, gentle horses who rule the land. He also encounters Yahoos, filthy bestial creatures who resemble humans.

Presents a compilation of four major texts important for developing an understanding of utopian thinking in the ancient world, including Plato's Atlantis.

Presents fifteenth-century Italian leader Niccolo Machiavelli's treatise on political power, statecraft, and the qualities of the ideal ruler.

Presents Galileo's scientific treatise, originally published in 1632, in which he uses the dialogue form to argue the truth of the Copernican system over the Ptolemaic, proving that the Earth revolves around the sun.

A reprint of the author's work of political philosophy addressing the idea that obedience to authority, especially in the form of a large bureaucracy such as the political state, is really just a natural response of human nature.

Presents a revised translation of Sir Thomas More's classic novel "Utopia, " and includes five critical essays plus a selection from Edward Bellamy's "Looking Backward.".