Montesquieu’s Persian Letters is one of the gems of the Enlightenment, at once amusing and profound, accessible and sophisticated. This marvelous collection of essays not only does justice to the book’s complexities but also demonstrates that the issues and questions raised by Montesquieu’s story remain as relevant today as they were three centuries ago.

Dennis C. Rasmussen, Syracuse University

This volume is a most welcome and truly important contribution to serious interpretive reflection on what is perhaps the most understudied, and least well understood, great work of political philosophy. A true galaxy of contributors includes many of the most distinguished scholars of Montesquieu and of French Enlightenment political thought—each of whom has penned a gem of an essay. A true feast for the intellect!

Thomas L. Pangle, University of Texas at Austin

This impressive volume -- the first dedicated to Montequieu's Persian Letters -- will not only serve as a benchmark for future scholarship on this important philosophical novel, but it will also inspire. It restores a very important part of Montesquieu's work to his overall political thought, and there is not one weak contribution in it.

Khalil Habib, Hillsdale College

Montesquieu’s Persian Letters offered a sophisticated analysis of the Enlightenment and an ambitious blueprint for political education. The essays collected in this timely and original book were written to celebrate three centuries since the publication of Montesquieu’s work. They remind us that Persian Letters is an immensely complex work that continues to fascinate us today.

Aurelian Craiutu, Indiana University, Bloomington

This impressive collection invites conversation with Montesquieu’s first work, giving the Persian Letters the attention it deserves. Readers rediscover this philosophical novel as a great Enlightenment argument for philosophical, moral, religious, and political moderation. Just as Letters deploys diverse voices – avoiding the single-mindedness of earlier moderns – the editors wisely gathered a heterogenous range of contributors for a balance of views. Successive chapters approach the Letters with care, from distinguished scholars to new voices, together striking the perfect note: instructive reflections that also make you want to study anew the classic work itself.

Paul Carrese, Arizona State University

The Persian Letters is both the most scintillating of Montesquieu’s works and the most mysterious. While paving the way for the better known works of his that followed, it caused a sensation by its frank discussions of issues still contentious today. It was the work of Enlightenment that more than any other problematized the Enlightenment. The present volume features sixteen scholars ranging from the well known to the up and coming to offer a range of new perspectives on interpreting this fascinating novel.

Clifford Orwin, University of Toronto