This clear and thorough introduction provides students with the skills necessary to understand the main thinkers, texts and arguments of political philosophy and thought. Each chapter comprises a brief overview of a major political thinker, followed by an introduction to one or more of their most influential works and an introduction to key secondary readings.
Key features include:
* exercises
* reading notes
* guides for further reading
The book introduces and assesses: Machiavelli's 
Prince; Hobbes' 
Leviathan; Locke's 
Second Treatise on Government; Rousseau's 
Social Contract; Marx and Engels' 
German Ideology (Part 1); Mill's 
On Liberty and The Subjection of Women. 
Reading Political Philosophy requires no previous knowledge of philosophy or politics and is ideal for newcomers to political philosophy and political thought.