James H. Read is Associate Professor of Political Science at the College of St. Benedict and St. John's University of Minnesota.
In these deft essays, James Read offers an astute introduction to
the four leading original architects of the American constitutional
tradition: Madison, Jefferson, Hamilton, and James Wilson. Few
writers have captured their essential ideas so concisely or
appreciatively.--Jack N. Rakove, Stanford University
James Read in effect returns to the themes Bernard Bailyn put at
the center of his classic study of the American Revolution and
rescues them from the so-called Republican Synthesis. He extends
Bailyn's analysis into the period of the early republic and shows
how much insight the related themes of power and liberty can give
when deployed by a deft hand.--Michael Zuckert, University of Notre
Dame
Power versus Liberty provides fresh perspectives on the political
thought of James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, James Wilson, and
Thomas Jefferson, statesmen and theorists who played crucial roles
in shaping the American experiment in republican government. Read
shows how these revolutionaries struggled to reconcile tensions
between liberty and power; his important book succeeds admirably in
reconstructing a fascinating debate over fundamental questions that
continue to command our attention. Historians and theorists alike
will gain much from Read's judicious and thoughtful
analysis.--Peter S. Onuf, University of Virginia
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