Ebook: The First Great Political Realist Kautilya and His Arthashastra

Title Page; Copyright Page; Dedication; CONTENTS; Preface; Introduction; 1 Historical Background; 2 A Science of Politics for a Wise King; 3 Kautilya's Spy State; 4 The Economy: A Socialist Monarchy; 5 Foreign Policy and War; 6 Power, Advancement, and a Theory of History; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index; About the Author.;The First Great Political Realist is a succinct and penetrating analysis of one of the ancient world's foremost political realists, Kautilya. Kautilya's treatise Arthashastra stands as one of the great political books of the ancient world, its ideas on the science of politics strikingly similar to those of Thucydides, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Clausewitz, and even Sun Tsu. Roger Boesche's excellent commentary on Kautilya's voluminous text draws out the essential realist arguments for modern political analysis and demonstrates the continued relevance of Kautilya's work to modern Indian strategic thi.