In an eloquent and insightful search for portents and counsel for
modern America, the distinguished historian (Emeritus/Amherst;
Empire of Reason, 1977, etc.) revisits the classic Democracy in
America by Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-59). After putting
Tocqueville's work in historical perspective, Commager explores
five issues that the Frenchman raised: his warning about the
tyranny of majorities; the costs of a just society; the impact of
centralization on democracy; the role of the military in a
democracy; and the contradictions between political equality and
economic inequality. While Commager concludes that, with sporadic
exceptions, the tyrannies foretold by Tocqueville did not occur, he
sees the bloated federal bureaucracies, massive military-industrial
complex, and pervasive economic inequalities of our society as
possibly fulfilling those darker prophecies. Commager considers
modern America as having lost its founders' faith in posterity,
with nuclear and environmental policies that pose threats to the
continued existence of the species; and while he doesn't view
centralization of government with the same horror as did
Tocqueville, he recognizes its dangers. Asserting that many of the
perils that Tocqueville feared have come true in Europe, Commager
contends that "Tocqueville was prophetic in the warnings he
addressed to the nations of Europe. It is possible that he may
prove justified...in the warnings he addressed to the American
people." Turning to the seemingly intractable problems of the
modern age - overpopulation, exhaustion of natural resources, and
pollution, among others - Commager departs from a discussion of
Tocqueville as he argues that - since these problems are global in
scope and amenable to technological solution - the national and
ideological verities of the past may be outmoded. He calls for a
new vision of American leadership that transcends nationalism and
that seer to conserve world resources and preserve global unity.
Often lugubrious and polemical but consistently wise, sobering, and
profound. (Kirkus Reviews)
"Commager on Tocqueville" is Henry Steele Commager's masterful
interpretation of Alexis de Tocqueville's "Democracy in America."
Using Tocqueville's classic as a vehicle for discussing such
contemporary issues as the environment, civil rights, and the
military-industrial complex, Commager calls for a new vision of
American leadership that trascends nationalism.
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