Offers a translation of the author's most important political writings.

This substantially revised new edition features a brilliant new Introduction by David Wootton, a revision by Donald A. Cress of his own 1987 translation of Rousseau's most important political writings, and the addition of Cress' new translation of Rousseau's “State of War”. New footnotes, headnotes, and a chronology by David Wootton provide expert guidance to first-time readers of the texts.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712?78) was a leading Genevan philosopher and political theorist and one of the key figures of the Enlightenment.