Berlins main theme in these essays is the importance in the history of ideas of dissenters whose thinking still challenges conventional wisdom - among them Machiavelli Vico Montesquieu Herzen and Sorel With his unusual powers of imaginative re-creation he brings to life original minds that swam against the current of their times and in the process offers a powerful defence of variety in our visions of life Roger Hausheers introduction surveys Berlins whole oeuvre and the full bibliography of his pubication has been updated for this Pimlico edition
