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| Category: History |
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| About the Book | |
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Alexis
de Tocqueville did two things in writing Democracy In America. He
described the American citizens and the American experience from the
perspective of a foreigner. He also presented a case study in political
sociology. As history, his writing may be criticized, and is understandably
outdated on many points now, but his offering has enduring value because
of his philosophic and analytic skills. As a writer he was
a talented craftsman. It is a challenge to paraphrase him without
removing the life from his depictions. Tocqueville's prose is not difficult to read nor are his points obscure. But much of the information he includes is extra baggage and the detail at times serves as a drag. Then, too, the style of 19th century writing has more flourish than contemporary readers find acceptable. This paraphrase treatment hopefully gives a hydroplaning effect to Tocqueville's message, while still delivering it safely and undamaged. This version is both brief (about 30% of the original) and inclusive. All the author presented is here--minus the belaboring, the extra example, and the unnecessary detail. Be assured that this version is not an abridgment in the sense of a depriving or a chopping. It is a faithful excursion through the whole body of text, lifting the essence up for easy viewing. It is a re-expression that retains the freshness that Tocqueville conveyed as a foreign observer excited about his discoveries and the tartness of his disapproval of too much equalitarianism. Where Tocqueville said it best you get his words. We just don't need all of them to get the point. The kite still flies here but on a shorter string.
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| About the Author | |
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Doug Good is an adjunct professor in the San Francisco Bay area. He has graduate degrees in history and religious studies, and holds doctoral candidate status at Claremont Graduate University. In addition to his U.S. history textbook he is writing a series of paraphrase editions of classic writings. |