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Samuel T. Francis
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Leviathan and Its Enemies Hardcover – June 23, 2016

by Samuel T Francis (Author), Jerry Woodruff (Introduction), Paul E Gottfried (Afterword)
4.7 out of 5 stars 76 ratings
*Leviathan and Its Enemies* is Samuel T. Francis's magnum opus on political theory and the history of the modern world, which had been lost to the world after his untimely death in 2005 and is published here for the first time. This edition includes new introductory and critical essays by Jerry Woodruff, Fran Griffin, and Paul E. Gottfried. In his Introduction, Jerry Woodruff writes, "Following [James] Burnham, Sam believed a new ruling elite emerged in 20th-century. . . . the growth of giant corporations, the expansion of government power and bureaucracy, and the widespread emergence of mass organizations gave birth to a powerful class of skilled professionals to guide and manage the vast operations of the means of economic production, which, on a smaller scale, were once in the hands of private entrepreneurs and their families. As a result, the old ruling bourgeois elite, along with its political and social institutions and its view of society and politics, were replaced by a new "managerial elite," with a world outlook that set out to remake society according to its own interests, and which was hostile to any bourgeois remnants in conflict with that project."
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  1. Print length
    794 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Radix
  4. Publication date
    June 23, 2016
  5. Dimensions
    6.14 x 1.69 x 9.21 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    159368049X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1593680497
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Radix
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 23, 2016
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ First Edition
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 794 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 159368049X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1593680497
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.99 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.14 x 1.69 x 9.21 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 out of 5 stars 76 ratings

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Samuel T. Francis

Samuel T. Francis

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4.7 out of 5 stars
76 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • nicholas leonard cote
    5.0 out of 5 stars A work of genius for our time
    Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2024
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    This is essentially a handbook to understanding the underlying function of modern society and politics. Keep in mind, it was written several decades ago and then published posthumously, but I have yet to find any other book that explores the deep state in such depth.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Jeremiah B Leonard
    5.0 out of 5 stars Vital Reading
    Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2018
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    These are some investigations of a great mind into the meanagerial elites of the 21st century. This is vital reading for honest minds who care about our current situation.
    18 people found this helpful
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  • Robert Ware
    5.0 out of 5 stars An incisive review of the correlation of cultural and political ...
    Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2016
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    An incisive review of the correlation of cultural and political forces at work in the US and beyond during the 20th century, updating and re-formulating the path-breaking analysis of James Burnham.
    21 people found this helpful
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  • J. D.
    5.0 out of 5 stars MAR
    Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2016
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    Sam was the wisest political observer of his time. Trump might just be the Middle American Radical revolution that he predicted.
    21 people found this helpful
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  • Josephine Boyle
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2017
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    excellent
    7 people found this helpful
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  • C. Derick Varn
    5.0 out of 5 stars darkly insightful... if you are not a nationalist anyway.
    Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2017
    This is not a book someone would expect a socialist like me to like, or even be Samuel Francis is hot-button even for diehard paleo-conservatives, and this was unedited and unfinished manuscript where Francis picks up on both the work of James Burnham and Carl Schmitt. Particularly on the shift from bourgeois power to managerial dominance of bourgeois power. If this sounds a bit Marxists for a man considered to be an ultra-conservative, it is because it is. As an unedited and incomplete manuscript, it is a little rough on readability: much of it is repetitive, and some of the evidence needs to be expanded upon, which is a problem for a manuscript that is already somewhat sprawling.

    Francis's theorizing of how managerialism would lead to xenophobic nationalism is sounder than many people would expect, and it's something I wish fellow socialists would really look at. What is interesting is that Francis thinks racial nationalism is more or less doomed in the United States, and this is not what one would expect from a man ostracized for what people thought were essentially racialist views.

    What is amazing about this is the description of Trump supporters and a turn of anti-politics in 20015, Francis was outlining over two decades ago. Francis was onto the how managerial focus of neo-liberal period (a word he does not use to my recollection) of capitalism would undo a lot of the what he saw as bourgeois virtues and how it would use progressive inclusiveness highly cynically.

    Francis also sees that the reaction that will be inchoate and often conspiratorial, filled with lumpen elements and declasse individuals hurt or displaced by managerial organizations of the economy. If Francis is a racist, and there is little reason to believe he isn't here and definitely from his actual late work, he is well-read and smart enough to deliver a theory of why it would have an appeal even if it was essentially a doomed movement .

    This is a long book and not an easy read, but it does provide a framework that is somewhat mechanistic and class aware that talks about both managerial neo-liberalism and the inability of the left to really answer it. Some of the truths in here are ugly, but even people who value a pluralistic and open society need to understand some of the dynamics Francis was talking about. Before last year, it would have seen highly unlikely to be taken seriously, but hindsight does make insights of the past much more clear.
    54 people found this helpful
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  • Mahawk
    4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    A little wordy and repetitious, yet interesting and thought provoking.
    9 people found this helpful
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  • McDonald
    5.0 out of 5 stars Samuel Francis was ahead of his time in anticipating what's ...
    Reviewed in the United States on July 17, 2016
    Format: Hardcover
    Samuel Francis was ahead of his time in anticipating something that has only become visible at large since the 2016 presidential campaign: the collapse of support, among conservative base voters, for the trade and immigration policies favored by global managerial elites. Consequently, what formerly seemed a small rift in the Republican Party has torn open wider, revealing a gulf between: (a) wealthy establishment types, like the Koch brothers and their representatives (including alliances with global-minded Democrats), who favor transnational policies to ease the movement of (cheaper) labor and goods across national borders; opposed now by (b) conservative base voters, who find now that their own self-interests do not align with the former, and that a reinvigorated nationalism may be their only defense against the disintegration of the traditions and norms which had made their nation work.
    70 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • I. Christie
    5.0 out of 5 stars Lying courier
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 26, 2025
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    excellent item. but was not handed to resident as claimed; left at street door of block of flats. as happens too often by this courier. Luckily spotted by honest neighbour.
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  • Michal
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good read :)
    Reviewed in Germany on November 21, 2023
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Good condition, nice lecyure
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    Michal
    5.0 out of 5 stars
    Good read :)

    Reviewed in Germany on November 21, 2023
    Good condition, nice lecyure
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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Vital book for anyone wanting to understand the mindset of the elite.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 10, 2022
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    Leviathan and its Enemies is a vital book for understanding the history and mindset of the ruling elite. It acts as a great continuation to Burnham's Managerial Revolution, but draws on many other political theorists too. The book can be a little repetitive, but it is a easy read and will not take long to get through even though it is 600 pages long.

    The book is good quality with a good print.
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