"The Greek Tradition in Republican Thought rewrites the standard history of republican political theory in Europe and America. It argues that an important republican tradition, derived from the central texts of Greek moral and political philosophy, emerged in sixteenth-century England and contributed significantly to the ideological framework of both the English Civil Wars and the American Founding. This tradition attached little importance to freedom as "non-dependence" and saw no intrinsic value in political participation. Its central preoccupations were not honor and glory, but happiness eudaimonia and justice - and it defined the latter in Plato's terms, as the rule of the best men. This set of commitments yielded a startling readiness to advocate the corrective redistribution of wealth and even the outright abolition of private property. Dr. Nelson offers significant reinterpretations of such central actors in the republican drama as Thomas More, James Harrington, Montesquieu, and Thomas Jefferson, as well as a radical reappraisal of ancient Roman historiography." The Greek Tradition in Republican Thought will be of great interest to scholars and students of the history of ideas, political history, early modern history, and American studies.