Reflections on the Revolution

Dahrendorf, a native of West Germany, former director of the London School of Economics, and currently warden of St. Anthony's College, Oxford, is a sociologist whose interest is constitutional politics. The recent changes in Eastern Europe have left him an open field for speculation. This letter, consciously modeled after Edmund Burke's writings and making frequent references to The Federalist Papers and to Karl Popper and other political philosphers, discusses the theory of the "open society," the current decline of socialism, the politics and economics along the road to freedom, and Germany's place in the new Europe. He stresses the importance of allowing an open society to flourish and warns against blindly replacing one social institution for another. Both erudite and persuasive, this is suitable primarily for academic collections.- Marcia L. Sprules, Council on Foreign Relations Lib., New YorkCopyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.