Examining the acrimonious political debte during the administration of Walpole from the perspective of its social context, [Kramnick] focuses directly upon the political culture of Augustan Britain. As the title implies, the volume is chiefly concerned with analyzing the thought and behavior of Bolingbroke and his supporters, especially Swift, Pope, Gay, and Lyttleton. But it devotes almost equal space to an explication of the ideas of both Bolingbroke's opponents... and ambivalent Commonwealthmen... who shared many of Bolingbroke's impulses but whose thought veered off in genuinely radical directions. The result is the most comprehensive and persuasive general study thus far published of early eighteenth-century British political thought.
Jack P. Greene
William and Mary Quarterly
A perceptive and learned contribution to the understanding of English eighteenth-century thought and of the role in it of enigmatic Viscount Bolingbroke. No one concerned with the political theories of Augustan England can afford to ignore Kramnick's book.
Political Science Quarterly
An illuminating analysis of Bolingbroke's political writings [and] a contribution of the first importance to eighteenth-century studies.
American Historical Review
An excellent book—erudite, penetrating, and extremely well-written.
American Political Science Review