The Portable Edmund Burke (Portable Library) (Paperback)

~ Edmund Burke (Author), Isaac Kramnick (Editor) "WE LAID IT DOWN as a Certainty in our First Paper, that Taste and Virtue had a close Connection; in Consequence to which, before we..." (more)
Key Phrases: exalted freedom, honorable gentleman, House of Commons, Great Britain, Church of England (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The most comprehensive one-volume edition of Burke's writings on politics, history, and culture.

The intellectual wellspring of modern political conservatism, Edmund Burke is also considered a significant figure in aesthetic theory and cultural studies. As a member of the House of Commons during the late eighteenth century, Burke shook Parliament with his powerful defense of the American Revolution and the rights of persecuted Catholics in England and Ireland; his indictment of the English rape of the Indian subcontinent; and, most famously, his denouncement of English Jacobin sympathizers during the French Revolution.

The Portable Edmund Burke is the fullest one-volume survey of Burke's thought, with sections devoted to his writings on history and culture, politics and society, the American Revolution, Ireland, colonialism and India, and the French Revolution. This volume also includes excerpts from his letters and an informative Introduction surveying Burke's life, ideas, and his reception and influence in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Product Details

• Paperback: 573 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (July 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140267603
• ISBN-13: 978-0140267600
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #188,902 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Amputated rather than edited..., May 11, 2006

By	Edmund More (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

Burke's most important work "Reflections on the Revolution in France" is reduced from nearly 200 pages to 60 pages in this volume. Yet nowhere in the book does the editor describe what he selected or what he dropped, or the basis for his decisions.

Comparing my copy of "Reflections.." to this chopped version I found that Kramnick had dropped passages that were highly insightful.

When I discovered this, I could no longer be confident that the other works were not similarly mangled. I will now search for an anthology of works that is more respectful of the originals (or at least one where the editor is more open about his approach).

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thematic is best, January 23, 2002

By	Jared J. Nelson (Normal, IL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Presenting Edmund Burke thematically is perhaps the only way to really approach Burke, as Conor Cruise O'Brien or Russell Kirk (Burke's best biographers) would probably agree. So unlike `On Empire, Liberty, and Reform,' which is chronological, the portable Edmund Burke instead tackles Burke under the themes of America, Ireland, India, and the French Revolution, and a couple other sub-themes, with invaluable commentary. By the end of the book, Burke is better enveloped here than in most biographies, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Broad but emasculated coverage, December 6, 2007

By	Martin H. Ambuhl (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"The Portable Edmund Burke" is useful in supplying a number of pieces not otherwise easily obtainable. It, like most books in the Viking Portable Library series, is missing the notes and especially the index that many people would have found useful. To make room for the 47 selections, several have been severely abridged. "Reflections on the Revolution is France" is whittled to leave only about 30% of it. Anyone needing this should look to a full-length treatment. Good ones include the Yale edition of Frank M. Turner, which has an excellent index, occasional notes, and several first-class essas; and Oxford World's Classic edition of L.G. Mitchell, which also has a helpful index and good notes. The speech on conciliation with America is similar chopped to a mere shadow of itself. The Lamont edition is not easily obtainable, which is a pity, but the notes and index of the Cambridge edition of Ian Harris will do well enough for most students. 'A Vindication of Natural Society' survives better (about half of it survives in this edition), but again the Harris edition is a better choice.

If you want a wide picture of Burke's writing, this text is probably for you. If you want to read any of his important texts, then choose something else.