Iain Hampsher-Monk's lucid and accessible history of modern political thought is the introduction that many have been waiting for, providing a thorough guide to the ideas and writings of major political thinker from Hobbes to Marx (including a full account of The Federalist papers). The second edition maintains the successful and distinctive approach. Throughout, the author incorporates the benefits of modern scholarship of the historical school, with its emphasis on historical and political circumstances as a key to meaning. Hampsher-Monk provides the background necessary for the reader to situate the writings of key thinkers in relation to wider currents in intellectual history.