Educating the Prince: Essays in Honor of Harvey Mansfield, Mark Blitz and William Kristol, eds., Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2000.

In this festschrift for Harvey Mansfield, twenty-one former students, themselves distinguished scholars and writers, reflect on the whole gambit of Mansfieldian themes, from Machiavelli to modern America, the wisdom of the ancients to the political science of the founders. This collection is an indispensable guide to the thought of Harvey Mansfield, and a significant contribution to contemporary political reflection in its own right.

Reviews:

Buy this book. The volume contains an introduction by Kristol and 21 impressive and provocative essays. The book also contains a bibliography of Mansfield’s writings, which alone would have made it worth the price. Any Scrapbook student who fails to grab a copy gets an automatic C-minus grade. (The Weekly Standard)

Harvey Mansfield is an extraordinary teacher who has, as this fine volume of essays attests, profoundly influenced the lives and thinking of his students. But Professor Mansfield’s influence extends beyond the walls of the academy. His insights have deep practical and political importance. Throughout his career Harvey Mansfield has taught us important things about self-government; we need, now more than ever, to heed his wise counsel. (William J. Bennett, former U.S. Secretary of Education, author of The Book of Virtues)

In addition to being the world’s leading interpreter of Machiavelli and an unblinkingly courageous social commentator, Harvey Mansfield is a superb teacher who has fostered a generation of influential students. The present volume is testimony both to the breadth of Mansfield’s interests, and the depth of influence that he has had on contemporary thought about politics and philosophy. (Francis Fukuyama, author of The End of History and the Last Man)

Machiavelli urged the prince to rely on his own arms. Harvey Mansfield, a one-man antidote to liberal complacency, relies on his formidable learning and rapier wit. A dazzling teacher, he has inspired a remarkable group of admiring students, as this volume attests. It will provoke and engage readers across the political spectrum. (Michael J. Sandel)

 

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