The First Great Political Realist: Kautilya and His Arthashastra
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 thinking and our understanding of the relationship between politics and economics. Striking a balance between textual analysis and secondary scholarship, Boesche's work will be an enduring contribution to the study of ancient Indian history, Eastern political thought, and international relations.
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ally Ancient India army Aśoka assassination attack Basham Bhagavad Gita Bhargava Bindusara Brahmin bring calamity caste Chandragupta and Kautilya Chandragupta Maurya Choudhary conquering conqueror conquest decline defeated defended Delhi Dharmasūtras Dikshitar discussed Drekmeier duty economy edicts elephants enemy evil example exterminated fight foreign policy four varnas goal Greek Hindu Hobbes Indian Philosophy international relations jātis Kangle Kautilya advocated Kautilya sought Kautilya urged Kautilya wanted Kautilya's Arthashastra kill king's kingdom Kosambi Kshatriyas land Laws of Manu leaders Machiavelli Mauryan Empire McCrindle 1960 Megasthenes military ministers moksa Mookerji moral Motilal Banarsidass Nanda kings neighboring one's panas Pataliputra Plato political thought practices Prasad prince protect Rāmāyana religion rule Saletore Sastri says science of politics secret agents self-interest Sharma Shūdras social justice soldiers spies spiritual subjects taxes Thapar theory thinker Thucydides torture tradition treasury treaty troops University Press Vaishyas varnas Vedas warfare weapons Whereas Wolpert women