Tocqueville: The Aristocratic Sources of Liberty
Winner of the 2008 Prix Franois Guizot, Académie franaise"[E]xhilarating. . . . Jaume, who probably knows Tocqueville's intellectual world better than anyone else alive, has reconstructed his reading in intricate detail, and brilliantly demonstrates the way particular themes and passages inDemocracy in Americarelate to it."--David A. Bell,London Review of Books"This astute study of Alexis de Tocqueville and his landmark political study,Democracy in America(published in two volumes, in 1835 and 1840, respectively), offers insights into the Frenchman's life and times and how they shaped his perspective on the newborn American republic. . . . Jaume does a fine job of interpreting Tocqueville's concept of the authority exercised by the public at large in a democratic America as (in Tocqueville's words) 'a sort of religion, with the majority as its prophet.' His volume provides a thorough understanding of Tocqueville's timeless work as a product of its time."--Publishers Weekly"[E]xcellent. . . . Tocqueville knew well his own class's reservations about democracy, and Jaume shows how, like Shakespeare playing with Plutarch's plotting, Tocqueville deftly repurposed conservative French ideas for his American drama. . . . [Jaume] sees in Tocqueville a political scientist, sociologist, moralist and writer, and discusses in detail his labors in each guise, the wonderful effect of which is to reveal how unified the man was--like the country he visited, vast and containing multitudes, as if Tocqueville saw himself in his portrait of America."--Elias Altman,The Nation"This is one of the finest studies of Tocqueville in years. It will prove invaluable to scholars."--Library Journal"[P]rofound, elegantly written and translated . . ."--Choice"Jaume has written a good book in the category of contextual studies, from which anyone can learn relevant facts of his life and thought useful for understanding [Tocqueville]."--Harvey C. Mansfield,New Criterion"[I]mpeccable scholarship."--Jeremy Jennings,Standpoint"Jaume has given us a brilliant reading of one of the most important books about America: one that is erudite, compelling, and frustrating. The culmination of Jaume's career, it provides much more than a deeper understanding of the arguments among French intellectuals in the 1830s and '40s. . . . Jaume shows how the question of America's future was part of a vigorous debate among French intellectuals over the meaning of liberty, aristocracy, democracy, and the role of the state in social life. And though Jaume argues against such a reading, these are debates we can still learn from today."--Shamus Khan,Public Books"[T]he book is extremely well researched and rich. . . . [T]he book will not be exclusively of interest to Tocqueville scholars but also, and perhaps mainly, to students of the early French nineteenth century."--Tommaso Giordani,European Review of History"[R]eaders who have previously studied Tocqueville's themes will find that Jaume's multilayered narrative leads them into rarely recognized sources of his thought and provides new perspectives on the dialogical construction of his best-known texts."--Lloyd Kramer,Canadian Journal of History"Lucien Jaume pushes our understanding of Tocqueville's intellectual biography and political theory in . . . many new directions. . . . His book will not be the final word in Tocqueville studies, but it will be one of the first books read and cited by a generation of Tocqueville scholars."--David Selby,Register of the Kentucky Historical Society"There are certainly many interesting insights and new observations in the book. Jaume's erudition is obvious on every page."--Helena Rosenblatt,Intellectual History Review