Includes bibliographical references (pages 237-249) and index.

"The idea for writing the book dates all the way back to the 1970s. I had read a novel in which a character reads a critical history of political philosophy, and I thought I'd love to work through such a book. But I never found the right one, and so, when eventually I had the chance, I decided to write something like it myself. My training and instincts as a philosopher, rather than a historian of ideas, made it more natural for me to write a problem-based, rather than theorist-based, text, and so this is not exactly the book I wanted to read. Nevertheless, it has found its place as a way into political philosophy for many students. I'm always gratified when I meet people who tell me it was one of the first books of political philosophy they read, and stimulated them to take their studies further. That is the whole point of the book"-- Provided by publisher.