On Politics

Starred review from June 18, 2012
Book 1: From Herodotus to Machiavelli. Remarkably detailed yet highly readable, the first volume of this monumental history of political theory covers an enormous span of time and wealth of writings, from Herodotus through Aristotle, the ancient Roman theorists of law, St. Augustine and the medievals, right up to Machiavelli. In tracing the origins of modern conceptions of the political, Ryan (John Dewey and the High Tide of American Liberalism) a professor of political theory at Princeton University, devotes much attention to the great founding texts, such as Plato's Republic and Cicero's On Duties. However it's Ryan's insistence on the influence that the formation and development of the Roman Catholic papacy had on emerging ideas about the nature and role of the nation state that provides the most valuable and fascinating insights. Admirably, Ryan is not afraid to take strong, almost polemical positions, such as when he argues that Plato, in his writings on justice, merely offers an "antipolitics." Questionable as such a thesis may be, it adds satisfying frisson to otherwise familiar material. In addition, contemporary American politics lurk in the background, as Ryan, in this absorbing and edifying read, regularly reminds us of what modern citizens might gain from a deeper understanding of the roots of today's political ideals and loyalties. Book 2: From Hobbes to the Present. This second volume, which itself runs well over 600 pages, covers the turn of the 17th century to the present. Starting with Thomas Hobbes, whom Ryan regards as the father of our modern conceptions of politics, the book ranges through Locke, Rousseau, Hegel, and Marx. In addition, Ryan devotes several chapters to modern movements such as republicanism, imperialism, various strands of socialisms, and fascism. Throughout, Ryan demonstrates a prodigious grasp of the various theories and ideas, and the history and events that fuel and underpin such notions. Again, contemporary American politics constitute the implicit context through which we might judge and apply such ideas. Ryan frequently considers the political ramifications of slavery, and offers nuanced views on the relationship between socialism, liberalism, and the welfare state. He admirably considers the political thought of advocates of violence, such as Franz Fanon and the Islamic nationalism of Sayyid Qutb. To his credit, Ryan approaches the problematic aspects of modern democracy with real concern, even if his commitment to it veers between pragmatic and resigned. Nonetheless, these two volumes constitute a remarkable achievement, one that will be immensely valuable to both students and readers for years to come.

Starred review from September 1, 2012
An ambitious survey not of politics itself, but of the way Westerners have thought about politics for 2,500 years. Ryan (Politics/Princeton Univ.; John Dewey and the High Tide of American Liberalism, 1997, etc.) has written a massive book, one "a long time in the making." That's understandable, for he has a tremendous amount of ground to cover. He does so with the admirable breadth of Will and Ariel Durant or Frederick Copleston, but with much greater powers of concision and a gift for finding essences without resorting to essentialism. Thus, he writes, one critical difference between Athenian and Roman conceptions of freedom is that the former "practiced a form of unfiltered direct democracy that the Romans thought a recipe for chaos; the Romans gave ordinary free and male persons a role in politics, but a carefully structured and controlled one." That distinction comes into play more than 900 pages later, when Ryan wrestles with what kind of a system most Western countries, and preeminently the United States, have today. "Liberal democracies," he writes, are really "nontyrannical and liberal popular mixed republics," though, as he cautions, "nobody is going to call them this." In between, Ryan visits thinkers from Socrates and Plato to Aristotle, excusing Plato from charges of protofascism and marveling at Aquinas' powers of distinction in determining whether it is fitting for a bishop to go to war. If all Western philosophy is a footnote to Plato, then Ryan's text is a delightful assemblage of enlightening subnotes: Who among us remembers that Machiavelli's The Prince was on the Catholic Church's forbidden index until just recently, and "that anyone wishing to read it for the purposes of refutation had to ask permission of the pope"? That Edmund Burke was a boring public speaker, but "(mostly) wrote like an angel"? Or that Karl Marx's notion of class struggle remains an elusive work in progress? Provocative, illuminating and entertaining--an exemplary work of philosophy and history whose author's deep learning is lightly worn.

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Starred review from January 1, 2013

Those disillusioned and distressed by contemporary politics may find themselves renewed by turning to this book. They would certainly get the long view, in every sense, while immersing themselves in more than 1000 pages of Western political thought. Ryan (political theory, retired, Univ. of Oxford; The Making of Modern Liberalism) now presents reviewers with a difficulty: his prior works have already been described as "magisterial"--what word to use now? Perhaps best to quote the author himself, which the reviewer could happily do from any page. Here, for example, is Ryan on Karl Marx: "a frustrated academic with a professor's incapacity to finish anything properly, a man of many deep insights who was unable to complete any project before being distracted by the next." Thankfully, Ryan, to whom this book was first suggested as a project more than 30 years ago, possessed more discipline than Marx and has now finished this analytical overview--written with wit, grace, and lucidity--encompassing every major thinker since the Greeks on this eternally contentious human endeavor. VERDICT There is a danger that the publisher's boxed presentation of these two volumes will suggest simply a handsome object rather than a superb book that both general and academic readers will relish. Very highly recommended.--Robert Nardini, Niagara Falls, NY

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