Rousseau: Dreamer of Democracy

Miller sketches the main events in Rousseau's life and concentrates on his thoughts about democracy as expressed in Social Contract and other works. He also examines Rousseau's influence on the French Revolution and on such thinkers as de Tocqueville, John Stuart Mill and Karl Marx. One of Miller's points: that Rousseau taught society to associate democracy not with an unattainable ideal but with popular sovereignty. PW called this an ""intensely absorbing and highly readable study.'' (March)