This beautiful essay details the hidden causes of War and Lawlessness that is the ruin of great nations. Arthur's Essay is profound in its though and style in dealing with the question of equality. It deems the human race to be bound by the same laws of nature that governs all animals, and it is a damning criticism of new age democracy. The book was dedicated to King George V of Hanover (1851-66), the last king of Hanover. In the dedication, Gobineau writes that he presents to His Majesty the fruits of his speculations and studies into the hidden causes of the "revolutions, bloody wars, and lawlessness" ("révolutions, guerres sanglantes, renversements de lois") of the age. In a letter to Count Anton von Prokesch-Osten in 1856 he describes the book as based upon "a hatred for democracy and its weapon, the Revolution, which I satisfied by showing, in a variety of ways, where revolution and democracy come from and where they are going.