内容简介

Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun(1653-1716)was one of the most acute observers of the Europen political order of his time,and an important forerunner of the Scottish Enlightenment.Famous in his own day and since for his patriotic pooosition to the Anglo-Scottish Union of 1707,in his political thought Fletcher was an admirer of the ancients and a student of Machiavelli,who sought to adapt Machiavelli's concepts to a world increasingly shaped by commerce.His lucidly written works address the fate of small nations dominated by larger,the concentration of power and wealth in great capital cities,and the prospects for new political union which would be to the benefit of all of Europe's regions.
This is the first complete modern edition of Fletcher's works.The editor's introduction draws on new research into Fletcher's life and thought,and the annotated text enables to appreciate for the first time the range and sharpness of Flecther's analysis.

作者简介：
JOHN ROBER TSON is university lecturer in modem history and a Fellovw of StHugh's College,Oxford.He has written extensively on the Anglo-Scottish Union and the Scottish Enlightenment.Most recently the edited A Union for Empire.Political Thought and the Union of 1707(1995).