In 1831 Tocqueville set out from post-revolutionary France on a journey across America that would take him nine months and cover 7000 miles. The result was "Democracy in America", a subtle and prescient analysis of the life and institutions of 19th-century America. Tocqueville's study of the strengths and weaknesses of an evolving democratic society remains a key point of reference for any discussion of the American nation or the democratic system.
Author Biography
The French sociologist and historian, Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-59) was active in the law and served for a time as foreign minister. He also wrote L'Ancien Regime. Gerald Bevan is the translator. Issac Kramnick is Professor of Government at Cornell and edited The Federalist Papers for Penguin.
![Democracy in America [Volume 1 of 2] by Alexis De Tocqueville](https://d3fa68hw0m2vcc.cloudfront.net/9c4/303762066.jpeg "Democracy in America [Volume 1 of 2] by Alexis De Tocqueville")