Description
Book SynopsisShows that Leo Strauss' defense of liberal democracy was closely connected to his skepticism of both the extreme Left and extreme Right. It assesses Strauss's attempt to direct teaching of political science away from examination of mass behavior and interest-group politics and toward study of philosophical principles on which politics are based.
Trade Review"By returning to the source and examining what Strauss actually wrote, Mr. Smith lets the breeze of reason into the feverish sickroom of ideology. He portrays a Strauss who cherished democracy as the best bulwark against tyranny, and who valued intellectual honesty above all. By the time Mr. Smith is done, nothing is left of the Strauss caricature except the ignorance and malice that fathered it." - Adam Kirsch, New York Sun "Steven B. Smith's admirably lucid, meticulously argued book persuasively sets the record straight on Strauss's political views and on what his writing is really about." - Robert Alter, New York Times Book Review "[Smith's] balance between sympathy and critical distance, lamentably rare in studies of Strauss, contributes to making this book our best introduction to the complex and challenging ideas of this divisive figure." - Damon Linker, New Republic"
