S. E. Finer [Finer - History of Government From the Earliest Times V3 Empires

No one has hitherto had the breadth of imagination and intellectual boldness to describe and analyse government throughout recorded history and throughout the world. This unique study of government is the culmination of the work of the late S. E. Finer, one of the leading political scientists of the twentieth century. Ranging over 5,000 years, from the Sumerian city state to the modern European nation state, five themes emerge: state-building, military formats, belief systems, social stratification, and timespan. The three volumes examine both representative and exceptional polities, and focus on political elites of different types. Empires, Monarchies, and the Modern State (Books Four and Five) opens with Tokugawa Japan and thence reviews the evidence of Ching, Ottoman, and Mughal Empires, before turning to facets of the re-creation, modernization, and transplantation of the European state model. It concludes with the synoptic review of Pathways to the Modern State. Professor Finers cogent descriptive analysis offers both an invaluable reference resource and an exhilarating journey across time and space.

`No review can fully capture the breadth and accessibility of S. E. Finers posthumous magnum opus ... its clarity and readability must be emphasized ... Finer constantly reminds us of exceptions that explain the richness and diversity of polities. John R. Cramsie, History

`The range and sweep of these volumes are extraordinary, as is the verve and clarity of the writing. Finers intellectual authority is maintained through the long but never wearisome journey from Sumerian city states to modern times. Times Educational Supplement

`This is political science on the grandest scale: three volumes that provide a history of successive forms of government throughout the world from the earliest times to the present day ... Finer presents material on political systems that most political scientists will be completely unfamiliar with, and gives fresh insights into systems that they might have thought they knew ... What makes it a great book, and one that deserves to be read by all students of government, is Finers remarkable ability to classify and compare across the entire universe of known systems of government. It is not simply the scholarship and erudition that is breathtaking, but also the confident, clear and imaginative use of comparative tools to describe the significance of the systems of government. Edward Page, Public Policy

S. E. Finer is at University of Oxford.