My new translation of and commentary on Montesquieu’s Spirit of the Laws has been recently released (Anthem). I prepared the work upon the consideration that it would be only the third English translation of this seminal work in 275 years. Imagine my surprise, then, very recently to discover that it is actually the fourth. What […]

The year 1748 witnessed the publication of the landmark Spirit of the Laws by French philosopher Charles Montesquieu. That work bequeathed the separation of powers and checks and balances to the modern world – fundamental concepts that shaped the Constitution of the United States. Spirit of the Laws contained this observation: “Liberty is … not […]