Modern Political Thought: A Reader is an excellent introduction to the key works of the major political thinkers from the English Civil War to the end of the 19th Century. It draws together the most important parts of seminal works of political thought such as Hobbes' Leviathan, Locke's Treatises, Rousseau's The Social Contract, and Mill's On Liberty, together with substantial extracts from Machievelli's The Prince and Marx's Capital.

Accessible introductions are provided for each thinker, explaining their lives and works, and placing them in the historical context in which they worked and wrote. Insights into the relationship between the different works of each thinker are also detailed.