The Republic Montesquieu Could Not Write

Illustration representing Montesquieu's political philosophy, the evolution of constitutional checks and balances, and the debate over republican institutions and the rule of law.

In the autumn of 1748, a book with no author’s name left the presses of Geneva. Its creator had spent twenty years writing it and did not dare sign it. The magistrate of Bordeaux, Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu, already knew what imprudence cost: his Persian Letters (1721) had also been published anonymously, printed […]