Postscript to the 1950 Edition

I was very glad to hear that the publishers were bringing out a new edition of this admirable book, which has become a standard text for all who wish to study the early beginnings of western democratic ideas.

This study has now assumed a new importance since the rise and spread of an entirely new idea of democracy in eastern Europe. The distinctive characters of western democracy, which distinguish it entirely from the so-called people’s democracy of eastern Europe, can be understood by study of this volume more than in any other way I know.

Professor Woodhouse’s Introduction and the documents he publishes here show the fundamental connection between western democracy and liberty, and the opposition between democracy and any kind of totalitarianism.

The study of this book is even more important than when it was first published.