The First Great Political Realist: Kautilya and His Arthashastra [Paperback]

Roger Boesche (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0739106074 | ISBN-13: 978-0739106075 | Publication Date: June 2003

The First Great Political Realist is a succinct and penetrating analysis of one of the ancient world's foremost political realists, Kautilya. Kautilya's treatise Arthashastra stands as one of the great political books of the ancient world, its ideas on the science of politics strikingly similar to those of Thucydides, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Clausewitz, and even Sun Tsu. Roger Boesche's excellent commentary on Kautilya's voluminous text draws out the essential realist arguments for modern political analysis and demonstrates the continued relevance of Kautilya's work to modern Indian strategic thinking and our understanding of the relationship between politics and economics. Striking a balance between textual analysis and secondary scholarship, Boesche's work will be an enduring contribution to the study of ancient Indian history, Eastern political thought, and international relations.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This is a valuable and insightful study of one of the world's neglected classics of political philosophy. Boesche is to be commended for bringing Kautilya's masterpiece to the attention of the Western reader. (Smith, Brian K. )

About the Author

Roger Boesche is the Arthur G. Coons Professor of the History of Ideas at Occidental College. He is the author of Theories of Tyranny: Plato to Arendt (1996), The Strange Liberalism of Alexis de Tocqueville (1987), and Alexis de Tocqueville: Selected Letters on Politics and Society (1985).

Product Details

• Paperback: 142 pages
• Publisher: Lexington Books (June 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0739106074
• ISBN-13: 978-0739106075
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #723,741 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good introduction to a political realist in ancient India, September 6, 2011

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This review is from: The First Great Political Realist: Kautilya and His Arthashastra (Paperback)

The author reviews and discusses the political and economic views of Kautilya (also known as Kautalya, Kautiliya, and Chanakya), an Indian advisor and minister of Emperor Chandragupta Maurya. The author contends Kautilya's "Arthashastra" shows that he was an early political realist.

The author compares the writings of Kautilya (lived about 340-280 B.C.) to the writings of Han Fei Tzu (live about 280-233 B.C.), Thucydides (lived about 460-400 B.C.), Niccolo Machiavelli (lived 1469-1527 A.D.), and Thomas Hobbes (lived 1588-1679 A.D.), and highlights similarities and differences he contends exist between Kautilya and the other writers. The author also cites and refers to modern writers who have discussed Kautilya, and points out where he agrees and disagrees with their analyses and conclusions about Kautilya's political and economic philosophy. Furthermore, the author refers to other books from ancient India and modern books on ancient Indian history in an effort to evaluate Kautilya's political and economic philosophy in the context of his times and culture. The author's contentions and arguments about the meaning and significance of Kautilya's views are thought-provoking and worthy of serious consideration.

The author cites and quotes many passages from Kautilya's book "Arthashastra" in connection with his analysis and discussion of Kautilya's political and economic philosophy. But the passages from "Arthashastra" cited and quoted by the author are generally brief. A reader interested in Kautilya's book "Arthashastra" itself, rather than a commentary about it, should look elsewhere.