The study covers different phases of the history of political thought in a detailed manner. It examines skillfully the views and achievements of various political thinkers — from Plato to Russell of 20th century. The first chapter deals with ideas and accomplishments of Plato. In the second chapter the political thoughts of Aristotle have been given in an exhaustive and elaborate way.
The following chapters throw light in detail on the thinking of many political thinkers like Polybius, Cicero, St. Acquinas, Dante, Marsiglio, Ockham, Machiavelli, Bodin, Grotius Hoppes, Spinoza, Locke, Vico, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Hume, Rousseau, Kant, Burke, Paine, Bentham, Fichte, Hegel, Mill, Austin, J.S. Mill, Lenin, Stalin, Engels, Spencer, Green, Bradley, Bosanquet, Wallas, McDougall, Bagehot, H.J. Laski and other philosophers.
The book gives special importance to the political thoughts of Karl Marx, Gandhiji and Mao. It is designed to meet the requirements of the students. The common readers will also find the book quite interesting and comprehendable.
Professor N. Jayapalan of Government Arts College, Karur (Tamil Nadu) did his post-graduation in History from Pachaiyappa’s College, Chennai (Madras University). Later, he did his post-graduation in Political Science from the same University. He got his M.Phil. from the Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirapalli.
He has participated in a number of seminars connected with Indian History and Political Science. He has written more than hundred books, both on History and Political Science. He is one of the most popular authors in Tamil Nadu.