The Ship of State: Statecraft and Politics from Ancient Greece to Democratic America

Thompson provides a new perspective on the development of political thought from Homer to Machiavelli, Tocqueville, and Gertrude Stein (who is introduced here, for the first time, as a writer of political significance). Providing nuanced readings of key texts by these and other thinkers, it locates a powerful theme: that the political health of organised political communities - from the ancient polis to the modern state to contemporary democracy - requires a balance between masculine and feminine qualities.