An outstanding short introduction to the work of Leo Strauss.

Upon its initial appearance in German the dust jacket bore the following description: "Whoever engages in political philosophy today cannot evade Leo Strauss (1899-1973). Stauss's work spans the whole horizon of European intellectual history from classical poetry, philosophy, and historiography up to Nietzsche and Heidegger. Strauss turns back to the beginnings of political philosophy with Socrates in order to retrace the ruptures in modern political thought. His extraordinary interpretations of Plato, Maimonides, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and many others have set the measure in the art of careful reading and writing. Behind his philosophical historical investigations there stands a singular aim: refounding of political philosophy in the twentieth century." Newly translated and edited in English for the first time, Kauffmann's book offers a beautiful and fresh introduction to the political philosophy of Leo Strauss.