The Rise and Fall of Rational Control

[This book] is an exercise in the liberal education that was already threatened when Mr. Mansfield began teaching History of Modern Political Philosophy in the 1960s. You cannot get answers to the questions Mr. Mansfield raises in a textbook or on ChatGPT, or even by examining important passages. The only way to find them is to read, reflect and compare whole books. – Sam Goldman * Wall Street Journal *The magisterial Harvey Mansfield of Harvard has given us a splendid new book…The reader will be struck—I certainly was—by how refined [the lectures] are. Well, they are refined because he refined them over half a century…Every chapter is penetrating and illuminating. – Robert P. George * Washington Free Beacon *Mansfield’s moderns, especially the early ones, are all devious, therefore dangerous. They always seem to be casting sideways glances; the careful reader’s job is to catch them out. Mansfield excels at this, because he is an unfailingly careful reader. Even if one rejects the larger argument, it is always full of penetrating observations. – Ian Tuttle * Hedgehog Review *Harvey Mansfield is a Harvard treasure, a one-man antidote to liberal complacency. – Michael J. SandelHarvey Mansfield is a legend—not to say a myth. These days, of course, a conservative on the political science faculty of an Ivy League college may sound as mythical as the Minotaur. Perhaps [his] critics viewed him with the same mixture of astonishment and fear as they would the mythical beast. Unfortunately for them, [he] was all too real. – Tom Cotton, United States Senator for ArkansasAn unblinkingly courageous social commentator, Harvey Mansfield is a superb teacher who has fostered a generation of influential students. – Francis Fukuyama, author of The End of History and the Last ManProfessor Mansfield’s influence extends beyond the walls of the academy. His insights have deep practical and political importance. Throughout his career Harvey Mansfield has taught us important things about self-government; we need, now more than ever, to heed his wise counsel. – William J. Bennett, former US Secretary of Education and author of The Book of Virtues

Harvey C. Mansfield is William R. Kenan, Jr., Research Professor of Government at Harvard University. The author and translator of many books, he has held Guggenheim and NEH Fellowships and is a recipient of the National Humanities Medal.