Our Enemy, the State

Rating:
Summary: Good Principles, Bad History
Review: To begin with, Nock makes an eloquent case for natural rights liberty and the criminality of the state. His principles are wonderful, but his historical analysis is horrible. He bases most of it off the perverted works of "Progressive" historians, among them Charles A. Beard, whose "Economic Origins" serves as the main basis of his commentary on the Constitution. Together with his mistaken history, he also devolopes a misleading and destructive form of social class theory. Despite this, the last chapter and essay in the appendix serve to redeem the book somewhat. I would recommend the work as a source of strong libertarian principles and a solid indictment of the state( remember the difference between the state and government). However, I would suggest that you might wish to supplement Nock's falacious historical view with those of historians as BernardBailyn, Gordon Wood, Pauline Maier, Carl Bridenbaugh, and Forrest McDonald for a true analysis.

Rating:
Summary: Good Principles, Bad History
Review: To begin with, Nock makes an eloquent case for natural rights liberty and the criminality of the state. His principles are wonderful, but his historical analysis is horrible. He bases most of it off the perverted works of "Progressive" historians, among them Charles A. Beard, whose "Economic Origins" serves as the main basis of his commentary on the Constitution. Together with his mistaken history, he also devolopes a misleading and destructive form of social class theory. Despite this, the last chapter and essay in the appendix serve to redeem the book somewhat. I would recommend the work as a source of strong libertarian principles and a solid indictment of the state( remember the difference between the state and government). However, I would suggest that you might wish to supplement Nock's falacious historical view with those of historians as BernardBailyn, Gordon Wood, Pauline Maier, Carl Bridenbaugh, and Forrest McDonald for a true analysis.