In 1831 Tocqueville set out from post-revolutionary France on a journey across America that would take him 9 months and cover 7,000 miles. The result was DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA: a subtle and prescient analysis of the life and institutions of 19th-century America. Tocqueville's study of the strengths and weaknesses of an evolving democratic society has been quoted by every American president since Eisenhower. It remains a key point of reference for any discussion of the American nation or the democratic system.
The French sociologist and historian, Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-59) was active in the law and served for a time as foreign minister. He also wrote L'Ancien Régime. Gerald Bevan is the translator. Issac Kramnick is Professor of Government at Cornell and edited The Federalist Papers for Penguin.