What I have done in this book, if I have correctly solved the great problem I have sought to investigate, is, to unite the truth perceived by the school of Smith and Ricardo to the truth perceived by the schools of Proudhon and Lasalle; to show that laissez faire (in its full true meaning) opens the way to a realization of the noble dreams of socialism; to identify social law with moral law, and to disprove ideas which in the minds of many cloud grand and elevating perceptions.

Published five years before John Kendrick Bangs had the same idea with Alice in Blunderland, Saki, in his 1902 series of satirical articles, takes an Alice in Wonderland view of British politics, which Alice finds even stranger than events in Wonderland.In all honesty, owing to its extremely topical nature this political satire hasn't worn well, which explains why it has virtually sunk without trace. To appreciate it at all, it's really rather necessary to understand the topical references. I am...

The Rise and Fall of Free Speech in America was D.W. Griffith's first response to the attacks made on The Birth of a Nation. In it he played on the 'intolerance' of those who would not permit him freedom of speech in his films. This view on intolerance led directly to the creation of the film of the same name.

From Dictatorship to Democracy, A Conceptual Framework for Liberation is a book-length essay on the generic problem of how to destroy a dictatorship and to prevent the rise of a new one. The book was written in 1993 by Gene Sharp (b. 1928), a professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts. The book has been published in many countries worldwide and translated into more than 30 languages. Editions in many languages are also published by the Albert Einstein Institution of Boston, Massachusetts...

A biographical encomium delivered on the occasion of Roosevelt's death. Theodore "T.R." Roosevelt, Jr. (1858 – 1919) was an American author, naturalist, explorer, historian, and politician who served as the 26th President of the United States. He was a leader of the Republican Party (the "GOP") and founder of the Progressive Party. He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...

Born in Manchester in 1893, Harold Laski was a leading figure in the left-wing of British socialism in the first half of the 20th century. An executive member of the Fabian Society and member of the Socialist League faction of the Labour Party, he was party chairman in 1945-6. As a professor at the London School of Economics he influenced a number of prominent politicians of the post-war years, including leaders of the independence movements of Asia and Africa, and Ralph Milliband, father of the current Labour Party leader, Ed Milliband...

The War of Anti-Christ with the Church and Christian Civilization is a book written in 1885 by an Irishman, George F. Dillon, DD. It was republished by Fr. Denis Fahey in 1950 as Grand Orient Freemasonry Unmasked as the Secret Power Behind Communism. The central theme of the book alleges that atheistic Illuminism, through the infrastructure of Grand Orient freemasonry, driven by the ideology of the philosophies laid the foundations for a large scale, ongoing war against Christendom in general and Catholic Church in particular...

After having written and released an initial draft of this proclamation in September of 1862, minor changes were made and Lincoln signed it on January 1st, 1863. It declared free the slaves in 10 states not then under Union control, with exemptions specified for areas already under Union control in two states. Lincoln spent the next 100 days preparing the army and the nation for emancipation, while Democrats rallied their voters in the 1862 off-year elections by warning of the threat freed slaves posed to northern whites...

In 1880, the New York Times reported a curious story from St. Albans, Vermont, about a mysterious figure, an attorney and Democratic operative named A. P. Hinman. Hinman privately told local Democratic leaders that he had been hired by the Democratic National Committee to obtain evidence that Vice-President-elect Chester A. Arthur was not qualified to hold the office of Vice President, but rather that Arthur was a Canadian-born alien. President Garfield was assassinated in 1881 and Arthur became twenty first President of the United States, and a pretty good one by all accounts...

"The study here presented embodies the findings of an investigation into the recent [1919-1920] deportations of persons deemed to be unlawfully in the country. . . Its purpose is to call public attention to practices that are inconsistent with the American tradition of justice and fair-play."

This is the third LibriVox collection of speeches given in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The collection comprises recordings of 10 historic speeches given to the UK House of Commons between 1601 and 1960. Readings are of speeches originally given by Queens Elizabeth I and Victoria, and by parliamentarians Edmund Burke, Herbert Asquith, Winston Churchill, Barbara Castle, Margaret Thatcher and Michael Foot.

François-Dominique Toussaint L’Ouverture (1743-1803) rose to fame in 1791 during the Haitian struggle for independence. In this revolt, he led thousands of slaves on the island of Hispañola to fight against the colonial European powers of France, Spain and England. The former slaves ultimately established the independent state of Haiti and expelled the Europeans. L’Ouverture eventually became the governor and Commander-In-Chief of Haiti before recognizing and submitting to French rule in 1801...

From Dictatorship to Democracy, A Conceptual Framework for Liberation is a book-length essay on the generic problem of how to destroy a dictatorship and to prevent the rise of a new one. The book was written in 1993 by Gene Sharp (b. 1928), a professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts. The book has been published in many countries worldwide and translated into more than 30 languages. Editions in many languages are also published by the Albert Einstein Institution of Boston, Massachusetts...

Written by the Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza, the Tractatus Theologico-Politicus or Theologico-Political Treatise was one of the most controversial texts of the early modern period. It was a preemptive defense of Spinoza's later work, Ethics, published posthumously in 1677, for which he anticipated harsh criticism. In the treatise, Spinoza put forth his most systematic critique of Judaism, and all organized religion in general. Spinoza argued that theology and philosophy must be kept separate, particularly in the reading of scripture...

Originally entitled A frutefull pleasaunt, and wittie worke of the beste state of publique weale, & of the newe yle, called Utopia: written in Latine, by ... Syr Thomas More knyght, and translated into Englishe by Raphe Robynson ...The first book tells of the traveller Raphael Hythloday, to whom More is introduced in Antwerp. The second book consists of Hythloday's description of the island and people of Utopia, their customs, laws, religions, economy, language and relations with other nations. Hythloday...

This essay, written in 1795, puts forth a plan for a lasting peace between nations and peoples. Kant puts forth necessary means to any peace, and argues that nations can be brought into federation with one another without loss of sovereignty. In one translation, telling of the historical impact of this essay, this federation is called a “league of nations.” The supplements and appendices are of considerable interest on their own. The supplements contain an argument regarding the use which nature makes of war, and the way in which nature, in the end, impels us towards peace...

The book is not a discussion of measures or of programs. It is an attempt to express the new spirit of our politics and to set forth, in large terms which may stick in the imagination, what it is that must be done if we are to restore our politics to their full spiritual vigor again, and our national life, whether in trade, in industry, or in what concerns us only as families and individuals, to its purity, its self-respect, and its pristine strength and freedom. (From the Preface)

Hero or assassin? Victim or criminal? Marie Sukloff fits no easy category. A young peasant woman who became a political radical and activist, Sukloff carried out an assassination plot against a Russian governor known for murderous pogroms and rampages against the Jews of his province. This mesmerizing autobiographical account tells the story of Sukloff's peasant childhood, radicalization, direct action, exile to Siberia, and escape. She tells her story with a colorful verve, sincerity, intensity, and simplicity that makes it almost impossible to put down, raising questions of political philosophy and responsibility that challenge the complacency of every reader.

De Cive ("On the citizen") is one of Thomas Hobbes's major works. "The book was published originally in Latin from Paris in 1642, followed by two further Latin editions in 1647 from Amsterdam. The English translation of the work made its first appearance four years later (London 1651) under the title 'Philosophicall rudiments concerning government and society'." It anticipates themes of the better-known Leviathan. The famous phrase bellum omnium contra omnes ("war of all against all") appeared first in De Cive. DPLs for this project were phaedo and craigdav1

Supporters of political democracy, human rights, and social justice have good reasons to be alarmed about coups d'état. These abrupt seizures of the state apparatus have occurred with great frequency in recent decades. Coups have overthrown established constitutional democratic systems of government, halted movements toward greater democracy, and have imposed brutal and oppressive regimes. Coups d'état are one of the main ways in which new dictatorships are established. Coups may also precipitate civil wars and international crises...

Olive Schreiner was a South African writer born in 1855 to missionary parents in the Eastern Cape. She is credited with being the first Internationally famous South African Novelist. She was an extraordinary person and was one of the earliest campaigners for women's rights, including the right to equal pay for equal work, saying: "The fact that for equal work equally well performed by a man and by a woman it is ordained that the woman on the ground of her sex alone shall receive a less recompense is the nearest approach to a willful and unqualified "wrong" in the whole relation of woman to society today"...

This is a posthumous collection of essays by Randolph Bourne. Many originally appeared in the journal "The Seven Arts," before the controversial end to its run. Also included is the unfinished manuscript of "The State," the book Bourne worked on until his tragic death in December, 1918, at the hands of the Spanish flu pandemic. In the words of the book's editor, poet James Oppenheim, "We have nothing else like this book in America. It is the only living record of the suppressed minority, and is, as so often the case, the prophecy of that minority's final triumph." - Summary by Ben Adams

This is an account of Nellie Bly's travels through Mexico in 1885. The book was originally a series of individual articles that she submitted to the Pittsburgh Dispatch newspaper for publication. In them she described the conditions of the people and the political system she found in Mexico. Her narratives focused mostly on the impoverished and disadvantaged in a country whose government was extremely corrupt. Bly was perhaps what we now term a feminist, striving for the empowerment and independence of women...

The Charter of the United Nations signed at San Francisco on 26 June 1945 is the constituent treaty of the United Nations. It is as well one of the constitutional texts of the International Court of Justice which was brought into being by the Charter. This recording contains: UN Charter Statute of the International Criminal Court Millennium Declarations

The Constitution is the charter of government and the supreme law of the United States of America. It was signed by delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 17, 1787. The first 10 amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified together in 1791. Amendments 11 through 27 were ratified separately from 1795 through 1992.

Constance Lytton worked along Emmeline Pankhurst for the cause of women's suffrage in England. Upset that she was getting preferential treatment by the authorities, she assumed a pseudonym so that her titled status wouldn't be obvious. This book chronicles her involvement in the suffrage movement, including her arrest and subsequent incarceration at Holloway Prison, a place notorious for the poor treatment of the women in their charge. - Summary by KHand

A History of the politics surrounding The Union of Norway with Sweden, from 1814-1905, from the Norwegian perspective - Summary by Ærik Bjørnsson

Étienne de La Boétie was the closest friend of Michel de Montaigne and the subject of the latter's famous essay "On Friendship." Here, however, he tackles a different, more impersonal relationship: that of ruler and ruled. The argument in this work is encapsulated in this quote: "A people enslaves itself, cuts its own throat, when, having a choice between being vassals and being free men, it deserts its liberties and takes on the yoke, gives consent to its own misery, or, rather, apparently welcomes it...

The word technocracy refers to a system of government by technical experts such as scientists, technologists, and engineers. William Henry Smyth is often thought to have invented the term in 1919, although it had in fact been used earlier.

Henry Cabot Lodge was a popular American Senator from Massachusetts. He did not only make a name for himself as a politician, but also as an essayist, combining his personal experience as Senator with a study of the philosophical and historical background of this profession. The essays in this volume concern the American model of democracy in particular. Published in 1915, the essays contained herein also reflect the rapid changes brought about by World War I, which will interest a wide readership. - Summary by Carolin

This report presents the findings and recommendations of the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities based on its investigation of the Watergate break-in and coverup, illegal and improper campaign practices and financing, and other wrongdoing during the Presidential campaign of 1972. The committee's mandate from the Senate, which was passed by a unanimous vote, was to make a "complete" investigation and study "of the extent ... to which illegal, improper, or unethical activities"...

This report presents the findings and recommendations of the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities based on its investigation of the Watergate break-in and coverup, illegal and improper campaign practices and financing, and other wrongdoing during the Presidential campaign of 1972. The committee's mandate from the Senate, which was passed by a unanimous vote, was to make a "complete" investigation and study "of the extent ... to which illegal, improper, or unethical activities"...

This report presents the findings and recommendations of the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities based on its investigation of the Watergate break-in and coverup, illegal and improper campaign practices and financing, and other wrongdoing during the Presidential campaign of 1972. The committee's mandate from the Senate, which was passed by a unanimous vote, was to make a "complete" investigation and study "of the extent ... to which illegal, improper, or unethical activities"...

In 1906, William Jennings Bryan, himself a famous American orator, and Francis Whiting Halsey published a series of the most famous orations of all time. They are ordered by both geographic area and time period, ranging from Ancient Greece to their contemporary United States. The third, fourth, and fifth volumes of this collection concern British speakers. The speeches contained in this third volume are ordered chronologically. We begin in the year 710 AD with a speech on the Saints, and end this volume in 1777 with the realisation of the impossibility of regaining control over the American colonies. - Summary by Carolin

New citizens of the United States were given this pamphlet when they became citizens. The Citizen's Almanac contains information on the history, people, and events that have brought us where we are today as a beacon of hope and freedom to the world. The Almanac has information on citizens' rights and responsibilities, the history of our anthems, court decisions, as well as other historical documents. - Summary by Craig Campbell

The State of the Union address is a speech presented by the President of the United States to a joint session of the United States Congress, typically delivered annually. The address not only reports on the condition of the nation but also allows the President to outline his legislative agenda and national priorities. This album contains recordings of addresses from James Polk.

In 1906, William Jennings Bryan, himself a famous American orator, and Francis Whiting Halsey published a series of the most famous orations of all time. They are ordered by both geographic area and time period, ranging from Ancient Greece to their contemporary United States. The third, fourth, and fifth volumes of this collection concern British speakers. The speeches contained in this third volume are ordered chronologically. We begin in the year 1781 with a speech on the war in America, and end this volume in the middle of the 19th century with a speech on the "Trent" Affair. - Summary by Carolin

The State of the Union address is a speech presented by the President of the United States to a joint session of the United States Congress, typically delivered annually. The address not only reports on the condition of the nation but also allows the President to outline his legislative agenda and national priorities. This album contains recordings of addresses from Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, and Franklin Pierce. - Summary by Wikipedia and Linette Geisel

The State of the Union address is a speech presented by the President of the United States to a joint session of the United States Congress, typically delivered annually. The address not only reports on the condition of the nation but also allows the President to outline his legislative agenda and national priorities. This album contains recordings of addresses from James Buchanan. - Summary by Wikipedia and Linette Geisel

Some of the states who rebelled against the Federal Government in the American Civil War issued statements by nascent governing bodies explaining why they were attempting to leave. Here are the statements, published in 1860 and 1861, of South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Mississippi, and Georgia. - Summary by David Wales

An engaging history of Great Britain in the heyday of Queen Victoria and of her empire by the liberal Irish Member of Parliament, Justin McCarthy. He brings us the larger than life personalities of the day, Victoria and Albert, Russell and Peel, O'Connell and Palmerston, Gladstone and Disraeli, and relates great events, the Afghan War, the Irish famine, and the Crimean War without ever losing sight of the hopes and fears of the common people at home and abroad.

This book records Bertrand Russell's impressions of the new regime after a 1920 visit to Russia following the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, including his meetings with Lenin, Trostky, and Gorky. It includes a chapter that was authored by Dora Black, educational theorist and feminist author, and Russell's spouse. This chapter was unfortunately removed in the second edition, which was issued after Dora and Bertrand divorced. This recording is dedicated to my darling wife, Jill. Happy Hanukkah and Happy 2020! - Summary by Landon D. C. Elkind

In 1906, William Jennings Bryan, himself a famous American orator, and Francis Whiting Halsey published a series of the most famous orations of all time. They are ordered by both geographic area and time period, ranging from Ancient Greece to their contemporary United States. The third, fourth, and fifth volumes of this collection concern British speakers. The speeches contained in this fifth volume are ordered chronologically. We begin in the year 1865 with a speech on the Canadian Confederation, and end this volume in 1906, the year in which this volume was published, with a couple of speeches on Liberalism. - Summary by Carolin

This is the sixth volume of the 15-volume series of The World’s Story: a history of the World in story, song and art, edited by Eva March Tappan. Each book is a compilation of selections from prose literature, poetry and pictures and offers a comprehensive presentation of the world's history, art and culture, from the early times till the beginning of the 20th century. Topics in Part VI include the Russian Empire, the fights for independence in Hungary and the Balkan states and the politics of early Turkey...

Volume II of this popular history opens in the revolutionary year, 1848, with the Chartist movement for manhood suffrage and with the rise of Young Ireland. Next we join the crowds in 1851 at the opening of the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, of which Queen Victoria wrote, ''A little rain fell just as we started, but before we came near the Crystal Palace the sun shone and gleamed upon the gigantic edifice, upon which the flags of all nations were floating.'' Hopes for a new era of peace expired in...

The State of the Union address is a speech presented by the President of the United States to a joint session of the United States Congress, typically delivered annually. The address not only reports on the condition of the nation but also allows the President to outline his legislative agenda and national priorities. This album contains recordings of addresses from Grover Cleveland. - Summary by Wikipedia

As an observer at the WASHINGTON CONFERENCE FOR THE LIMITATION OF ARMAMENTS held in 1921 and attended by the victorious nations of The Great War, the acclaimed author H. G. Wells wrote 29 short essays that were serialized in the New York World and other newspapers. This book is a collection of those essays. They are not a record or description of the Conference, but the impressions of one visitor. Wells noted that the failed League of Nations was the first American initiative toward an organized world peace, and in its absence “the American mind has produced this second experiment, which has been tried with the loosest of constitutions and the most severely defined and limited of aims...

The report from Robert Mueller's team reporting the results of investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential Election. This report was released on April 18, 2019. The recording is of the originally-released, redacted version. - Summary by Samuel StinsonNOTE: Section 14 was divided into two parts after the project was well underway. As a result, the section numbers in the audios do not correspond with the numbers in the metadata and file names after section 14.

This book is a compilation of scholarly lectures by distinguished experts delivered at Cambridge in August 1916. The titles of the lectures reveal the contents of each presentation and include the following: The war and Balkan politics; the representative system in Russia; past and present of Russian economics; Poland, old and new; the nationalities of Russia; and the development of science and learning in Russia. - Summary by Jan Moorehouse

Volume III of this history of Victorian Britain begins in 1856 with the gunboat diplomacy of the Second Opium War and then moves to the harrowing days of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. In June 1858, Benjamin Disraeli secures passage of the Jews Relief Act and Baron Lionel Nathan de Rothschild takes his seat in Parliament. Prince Albert dies after a short illness in December 1861, leaving a distraught and cloistered Queen. Lord Palmerston's diplomacy increases Britain's influence on the Continent, while the Civil War in America divides the country in surprising ways. Bismarck emerges and Prussia begins her ascent to power.

This book presents a summary of the findings conducted by the the Juvenile Protective Association in Chicago before the changes brought on by the war-time economy. The study's researchers were A. P. Drucker, Sophia Boaz, A. L. Harris, and Miriam Schaffner. Its author, Louise DeKoven Bowen was a well-known philanthropist and suffragist in Chicago. The summary makes no strong argument on its own, but presents simple facts and observations that would alert the reader to the need for social and economic reform in the city. - Summary by KevinS

In 1952, Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which had many provisions objectionable to many Americans. President Truman vetoed it, but it was passed in June 1952 over the President's veto. President Truman established the President's Commission on Immigration and Naturalization [in September 1952]. He directed the Commission "to study and evaluate the immigration and naturalization policies of the United States" and to make recommendations "for such legislative, administrative, or other action as in its opinion may be desirable in the interest of the economy, security, and responsibilities of this country...

It was Godwin, in his Enquiry concerning Political Justice , who was the first to formulate the political and economical conceptions of anarchism, even though he did not give that name to the ideas developed in his remarkable work. Laws, he wrote, are not a product of the wisdom of our ancestors: they are the product of their passions, their timidity, their jealousies and their ambition. The remedy they offer is worse than the evils they pretend to cure. - Summary by Peter Kropotkin

Benito Mussolini was an Italian journalist and politician, the leader of the National Fascist Party. He grew up as a violent bully, and the characteristics developed in childhood aided his upward career and later rule in Italy. He was also an excellent orator, and this was one of the qualities that helped him rise to power.This project contains over 60 of his earlier speeches, covering the years 1914-1923: from soon after his expulsion from the Socialist Party for supporting WWI, to his becoming Prime Minister yet still submitting outwardly to democratic rule. - Summary by TriciaG

Bernard Mandeville's didactic poem praising the virtues that personal vices bestow on society as a whole, along with several treatises and dialogues explaining and defending it. Mandeville's theories were influential in the development of both the moral philosophy of the Scottish Enlightenment and the methodology of modern economics. - Summary by Matthew Muñoz

The fourth and concluding volume of this history of Victorian Britain opens with the brutal repression in 1865 of a rebellion by ex-slaves in Jamaica. Then in 1867, the Conservative Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, takes his celebrated "leap in the dark" with the passage of the most comprehensive expansion of manhood suffrage in British history. The Fenian movement agitates unsuccessfully for Irish independence. British trade unions win the right to organize. William Ewart Gladstone launches his great reform ministry by abolishing in Ireland the hated Anglican establishment and follows with a flood of bills reforming education, the British army, and poor relief...

Excerpt: At the time when Mr. Cleveland was inaugurated there had been no Democratic President for a full quarter of a century. A whole generation had been born and had grown to manhood and to womanhood without ever having lived under any but Republican rule. This long continuance in power of a single party had led many citizens to identify the interest of that party with the interests of the nation. The democrats had been so invariably beaten at the polls as to make Republicans believe that the defeated party had no decent reason for existence, and that is was composed only of wilful obstructionists or of persons destitute of patriotism...

"The law perverted! The law—and, in its wake, all the collective forces of the nation. The law, I say, not only diverted from its proper direction, but made to pursue one entirely contrary! The law becomes the tool of every kind of avarice, instead of being its check! The law guilty of that very inequity which it was its mission to punish! Truly, this is a serious fact, if it exists, and one to which I feel bound to call the attention of my fellow-citizens." —Frédéric Bastiat

"A description and analysis of the characteristic types of political theory that have from time to time been dominant in American political life." - Summary by William Archibald Dunning Proof-listening done by cimt, Linny, kristakz, and ChrisGreaves. File editing done by kristakz.

Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Men attacks aristocracy and advocates republicanism. It was published in response to Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France , which was a defence of constitutional monarchy, aristocracy, and the Church of England, and an attack on Wollstonecraft's friend, the Rev Richard Price. Hers was the first response in a pamphlet war that subsequently became known as the Revolution Controversy, in which Thomas Paine's Rights of Man became the rallying cry for reformers and radicals...

Article I, section 5, of the United States Constitution gives each house of Congress power to judge the elections, returns, and qualifications of its members, and to punish members for "disorderly behavior." Between 1793 and 1990, more than 200 senators faced challenges to their credentials based on their qualifications for office and alleged irregularities in their elections; or discipline for offenses ranging from public corruption, to giving aid and comfort to the Confederacy, to bringing dishonor upon the Senate in myriad other ways, or for pure political spite...

Frederick Adams Woods presents compelling evidence to support the great man theory of history and his own category scientific inquiry known as historiometry, or the study of history. In this work, the summarised history of fourteen European nations that have achieved renown at some point in their recorded timeline is compared to the biography of their monarchs and demonstrates the strong link between the intellect and willpower of the supreme leadership and the condition of their country. - Summary by Leon Harvey

It was Godwin, in his Enquiry concerning Political Justice , who was the first to formulate the political and economical conceptions of anarchism, even though he did not give that name to the ideas developed in his remarkable work. Laws, he wrote, are not a product of the wisdom of our ancestors: they are the product of their passions, their timidity, their jealousies and their ambition. The remedy they offer is worse than the evils they pretend to cure. - Summary by Peter Kropotkin

Published as the third volume in the Modern Criminal Science Series, Cesare Lombroso, renowned Italian criminologist, collected a wealth of information regarding the incidence, classification, and causes of crime. Crime calendars, the geography of crime, unusual events and circumstances leading to more frequent crime, political motivations and associations of criminal enterprise and an assessment of the real value and effectiveness of prisons and reform programs are all included in this three part volume. - Summary by Leon Harvey

As a precursor to Capital, Marx outlines his analysis of capitalism and critiques classical economic theories. - Summary by Tray

A vivid description of wealth and poverty in Russia in Tolstoy's day, an inquiry into the root causes of economic inequality, and a vision of a more just way of living.Tolstoy recounts his own disturbing encounters with extreme poverty in Moscow, his initial idea of making the problem disappear by generous financial contributions, and his subsequent realization that the problem of poverty was much more intractable than he had imagined. He concludes that poverty is fundamentally linked with the luxurious lifestyle to which he and his class were accustomed, and that both are detrimental both to the rich and to the poor...

Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds is the fifth installment in the National Intelligence Council’s series aimed at providing a framework for thinking about the future. As with previous editions, this report will stimulate strategic thinking by identifying critical trends and potential discontinuities. It distinguishes between megatrends, those factors that will likely occur under any scenario, and game-changers, critical variables whose trajectories are far less certain. As the diversity and complexity of various factors has grown, there is increased attention to scenarios or alternative worlds...

A Monthly Magazine of aspiration devoted to the economic and political interests of women, edited by Josephine Conger-Keneko. - Summary by KevinS

Frederick Adams Woods examined the biographical records and family trees of the great dynasties of Europe, judging and comparing their moral standards and intellectual aptitude to their reputation as rulers. The summarised family histories are produced after a painstaking search including portrait galleries, family lineage, comparisons of reputation, and the origin of allegations of madness and moral bankruptcy, all collated within a single volume. - Summary by Leon Harvey

At its height, the British Empire was the largest in history. This short volume traces its development through the long 18th century, from 1714 to the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Founded on the prosperity of Sir Robert Walpole's ministry , the Empire emerged from the Indian conquests of that gifted military amateur, Lord Clive, and was extended under the leadership of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, who drove the English to victory in the Seven Years' War . Surmounting the loss of the American colonies and twenty years of conflict with France, by the first quarter of the 19th century, the British navy, master of the oceans, presided over an Empire upon which the sun never set.

The Bolshevik Myth is a book by Alexander Berkman who with his partner Emma Goldman was deported from the USA under the 1918 Anarchist Exclusion Act and shipped to the young Soviet Russia. He describes his experiences in Bolshevik Russia from 1920 to 1922, where he saw the aftermath of the Russian Revolution of 1917. Written in the form of a diary, The Bolshevik Myth describes how Berkman's initial enthusiasm for the revolution faded as he became disillusioned with the Bolsheviks and their suppression of all political dissent...

John Eliot, a North American missionary, advocates for post-civil-war England to adopt a representative democracy, using the Mosaic Law as a model.

John Lothrop Motley was an American author and popular diplomat, who helped to prevent European intervention on the side of the Confederates in the American Civil War. In 1861, just after the outbreak of the American Civil War, Motley wrote two letters to The Times defending the Federal position, and these letters, afterwards reprinted as [this] pamphlet entitled Causes of the Civil War in America, made a favourable impression on President Lincoln. Partly owing to this essay, Motley was appointed...

"What I want to impress upon those who may read this paper is this: The Irish land question is not a mere local question; it is a universal question. It involves the great problem of the distribution of wealth, which is everywhere forcing itself upon attention. It can not be settled by measures which in their nature can have but a local application. It can only be settled by measures which in their nature will apply everywhere as readily as in Ireland."

“The Federalist Papers” are a collection of 85 linked essays that explain the construction of the U.S. government and why it was built that way. The Papers are regarded as the best pipeline into understanding the U.S. Constitution and the founding principles of the government it would establish. I have endeavored here to present these essays, not as articles in a newspaper, but as you might have experienced them if you had sat in a comfortable tavern with a tankard in hand, and listened while these ardent men ranged in front of a friendly fireplace as they attempted to convince you of their arguments...

Theodore Roosevelt became the 26th president of the United States when president William McKinley was assassinated in 1901. As the youngest president, Roosevelt advanced the progressive Republican program known as the “Square Deal” focused on conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, and consumer protection. Expanding on this theme, “The matter contained is this book has been carefully prepared from the many addresses by the President, the aim being to bring under each specific head the ideas expressed on many occasions, by Horace Markle.” Topics range from The Farmer to World Peace, and The Essence of Christian Character. - Summary by Larry Wilson

This essay is one of a great number that endorse the principle of eugenics, a controversial study and practice that aims for society or government to 'self-direct' the course of human evolution. In this essay, one finds discussion of contraception, abortion, population growth and war, as well as questions of 'race.' One finds here a use of the term 'race' meaning something far different than what is used today. This is a provocative essay. - Summary by KevinS

A number of publications distributed by the Friends of Ukraine in the period after the First World War when the Ukraine was struggling for its independence.

In this essay, the author directs our attention on the African continent and describes how the exploitation and colonization of Africa by European powers contributed to the then-ongoing World War. Without a just and measured settlement of African concerns, the promise is for continued warfare among nations even after the peace to be negotiated at the close of the European conflict. - Summary by KevinS

Here is a trenchant argument for the Allied Supreme Council, established at the close of World War One, to recognize and defend the independence of Armenia and its people. Responding to President Wilson's call for the sovereignty of those who fought for self-determination during the war, the author outlines his people's suffering and their efforts to earn recognition of their nationhood by joining the Entente in fighting against tyranny.

An explanation of the concept of industrial democracy and its relation to capitalism.

American journalist H.L. Mencken’s Notes On Democracy was originally published in 1926, yet is still relevant almost 100 years later. Mencken has proposed some succinct and satirical definitions of democracy, such as, “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.” And, “Democracy is the art and science of running the circus from the monkey house.” One predictable result of democracy, Mencken explains, is that the professional politician, who’s objective is always the job, and not the principle, is in a constant struggle for office and its rewards...

Written in the aftermath of Word War I, Viscountess Snowden recounts her travels in post war Europe in, as she describes it, "an attempt to do what one person might do, or at least attempt, to restore good feeling between the nations and the normal course of life as quickly as possible." An outspoken pacifist, socialist, and feminist who nonetheless strongly denounced the Bolsheviks, Snowden was a controversial and polarizing figure. whose views and observations offer a unique perspective on Europe in the '20s. - Summary by Ciufi Galeazzi

“We are not the same nation with Russian people,” the statement which all Ukrainians wish to convey to the whole world for centuries. The striving for freedom and independence is what these people shed much of their blood on Ukrainian lands for. “The Ukraine” by Bedwin Sands describes Ukrainian problem, which exacerbated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, by looking back at the Ukrainian history, the development of Ukrainian literature and its influence, and by considering its relations with Austria and Russia.

The 19th century was the Golden Age of Nationalism in Europe. By the end of the century many countries achieved their national self-determination. But the asunder of the territories was still a cause of dispute which led to the Great War in 1914. Ukrainian nationalism reached its peak in the early years of the 20th century. The Great War was the opportunity of the nation to obtain its unification and liberty from Russian Empire and Austria-Hungary which kept Ukraine under their reign for decades...

A Critique of Classical Socialism presented in a series of letters to a Mr. Smith. The author was the editor of the New York-based "Common Cause" magazine - Summary by KevinS

The Commentaries on the Laws of England by Sir William Blackstone, are a prominent and authoritative 18th century dissertation on the common law of England which not only pertains to that country, but is also at the foundation of the American legal system. They were widely read and a huge influence on America's Founding Fathers and, to this day, are occasionally quoted in U.S. Supreme Court decisions when expounding upon principals of universal and enduring human justice. The commentaries were divided into four books: On the Rights of Persons, On the Rights of Things, Of Private Wrongs, and Of Public Wrongs...