Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun(1653-1716)was one of the most acute observers of the Europen political order of his time,and an important forerunner of the Scottish Enlightenment.Famous in his own day and since for his patriotic pooosition to the Anglo-Scottish Union of 1707,in his political thought Fletcher was an admirer of the ancients and a student of Machiavelli,who sought to adapt Machiavelli's concepts to a world increasingly shaped by commerce.His lucidly written works address the fate of small nations dominated by larger,the concentration of power and wealth in great capital cities,and the prospects for new political union which would be to the benefit of all of Europe's regions.

This is the first complete modern edition of Fletcher's works.The editor's introduction draws on new research into Fletcher's life and thought,and the annotated text enables to appreciate for the first time the range and sharpness of Flecther's analysis.

《安德魯•弗萊徹政治著作選》：在政治理論領域，“劍橋政治思想史原著係列”作為主要的學術教科叢書，如今已牢固確立瞭其地位。《劍橋政治思想史原著係列》旨在使學生能夠獲得從古希臘到20世紀初期西方政治思想史方麵所有最為重要的原著。它囊括瞭所有著名的經典原著，但與此同時，它又擴展瞭傳統的評價尺度，以便能夠納入範圍廣泛、不那麼齣名的作品。而在此之前，這些作品中有許多從未有過現代英文版本可資利用。隻要可能，所選原著都會以完整而不刪節的形式齣版，其中的譯作則是專門為《劍橋政治思想史原著係列》的目的而安排。每一本書都有一個評論性的導言，加上曆史年錶、生平梗概、進一步閱讀指南，以及必要的詞匯錶和原文注解。《劍橋政治思想史原著係列》最終目的是，為西方政治思想的整個發展脈絡提供一個清晰的輪廓。