Moses Maimonides was one of the foremost intellectuals of medieval Judaism. He became physician to Sultan Saladin (1137/8-1193), the famous Islamic military leader. While in Cairo he wrote many volumes on Jewish legal tradition and philosophy. He is best known for his lexicographic works in logic and his piece on the relationship of reason to religion, A Guide to the Perplexed. Like his Islamic counterpart, Averroes, Maimonides considered philosophy and religion to be mutually supportive. He also thought more attention should be paid to making Judaism consistent with rational thought.

A collection of letters from Acton to Gladstone’s daughter Mary which shows a “family” side to Acton’s life.

This collection includes Pope’s poems, translations of Ovid and Homer, An Essay on Criticism, The Rape of the Lock, An Essay on Man, and his Moral Essays.

A defence of the Republic written on the eve of the restoration of the monarchy. Milton persisted in opposing rule by one man in favor of rule by those to whom power had been delegated by the people.

In this vision of a future society, the Belgian laissez-faire economist Molinari suggests how many, if not most, public goods could be provided by the free market or by radically decentralized local governments.

Cannan provides a brief survey of the basic principles of economics, the division of labour, the nature of demand, income, and concludes with his own chapter on “the wealth of nations.” It is based upon his lectures to first year at the London school of economics since 1898.

The Venerable Saint Bede was an important Anglo-Saxon theologian and historian. He is generally best remembered for his Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation, a work considered to be one of the best sources for early English history. Although his work often concerned miracles and other divine matters, Bede was careful to analyze his sources and consider their historical validity.

A collection of the major plays of the great Athenian playwright Aeschylus.

Written in response to Sir Robert Filmer’s Patriarcha (1680), the Discourses Concerning Government is a classic defense of republicanism and popular government. Sidney rejected Filmer’s theories of royal absolutism and divine right of kings, insisting that title to rule should be based on merit rather than birth; and republics, he thought, were more likely to honor merit than were monarchies.

Written during the English Revolution, Milton’s pamphlet argues that there exists a voluntary contract between free men and their rulers, and that if a ruler becomes a tyrant then the people have the right to depose him if the ordinary magistrates have not done so.