Edmund Burke

A work that has been influential in political philosophy, history, and revolutionary thought for two centuries is now available in a fresh, modern edition that warns readers of the catastrophic repercussions of mismanaging change. Burke's Reflections of the Revolution in France, written for a generation confronted with enormous challenges-the Industrial, American, and French Revolutions, to name the most obvious-displays a keen awareness of the high stakes that can be involved in politics as well as a keen ability to place current issues within a larger context of political theory.

Edmund Burke (1729-1797) was an Anglo-Irish statesman and philosopher. Born in Dublin, Burke served as a member of parliament (MP) between 1766 and 1794 in the House of Commons with the Whig Party after moving to London in 1750. Burke was a proponent of underpinning virtues with manners in society and of the importance of religious institutions for the moral stability and good of the state. These views were expressed in his A Vindication of Natural Society. He criticized British treatment of the American colonies, including through its taxation policies. Burke also supported the rights of the colonists to resist metropolitan authority, although he opposed the attempt to achieve independence.