The Honey and the Hemlock: Democracy and Paranoia in Ancient Athens and Modern America - Hardcover

Sagan, Eli

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0465030580 ISBN 13: 9780465030583

Publisher: Basic Books, 1991

Synopsis

Argues that ancient Athens and modern America share the same basic moral and psychological problems, and examines the connection between political paranoia and a society's capacity for democratic behavior

About this title

Review:

"The highest praise that I can bestow upon The Honey and the Hemlock by Eli Sagan is that it's the political equivalent of Harold Bloom's remarkable The Book of J--an audacious rereading of ancient texts that take on new and startling meaning when seen through the eyes of a daring interpreter."--Jonathan Kirsch, Los Angeles Times

From the Back Cover:

"A brilliant and original mixture of political and psychoanalytic insight, unlike anything I have ever read."--Robert Heilbroner

"A profound social and psychological analysis of democracy, revealing its extraordinary achievements as well as its fragility.... [It] gives us great insight into the possibilities and difficulties involved in morally transforming democratic institutions today."--Robert Bellah

About this edition

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0465030580
• ISBN 13: 9780465030583
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 448