The Dominant Ideas of the Nineteenth Century and Their Impact on the State

This is the first English translation of a classic of nineteenth-century European liberal political thought. Its thesis is that since the French Revolution, the dominant ideas of liberty, equality and nationality, have been given a meaning quite different from liberal interpretations. Liberty, for instance, has been taken to mean that all power is nominally exercized by 'the people' ; this difference, according to Eotvos, is the cause of all the sufferings of the age. This work constitutes a devastating, prescient commentary on the twentieth century, and has been apotent influence in post-communist Hungary. The translator has supplied precise reference for Eotovos's quotations, a substantial introduction, and an index with short notes on proper names.