The 31 papers presented in this volume offer a comprehensive introduction to the work of of the greatest economists of the modern era, James M. Buchanan. The essays are arranged into thematic sections including "Politics without Romance", "Public Finance and Democratic Process", "The Economist and Economic Order", "Ethics and Economics" and "The Reason of Rules". The editors have focused on papers that Buchanan has written without collaboration and which present Buchanan's earlier, classic statements on crucial subjects rather than his subsequent elaborations. Included is Buchanan's Nobel address, "The Constitution of Economic Policy" and the text of the Nobel Committee's press release explaining why Buchanan was awarded the prize for economics in 1986. The volume also includes Buchanan's autobiographical essay, "Better Than Plowing", in which he gives not only a brief account of his life, but also his own assessment of what is important, distinctive and enduring in his work.