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