This concise and accessible introduction to Strauss's thought provides, for wider audience, a bridge to his more complex theoretical work. Editor Pangle has gathered five of Strauss's previously unpublished lectures and five hard-to-find published writings and has arranged them so as to demonstrate the systematic progression of the major themes that underlay Strauss's mature work.

"[These essays] display the incomparable insight and remarkable range of knowledge that set Strauss's works apart from any other twentieth-century philosopher's."—Charles R. Kesler, National Review

“[These essays] display the incomparable insight and remarkable range of knowledge that set Strauss’s works apart from any other twentieth-century philosopher’s.”

— Charles R. Kesler, National Review

"These collected essays are by Leo Strauss—and this means that they are all of very high quality, provocatively argued, and lucid in style. To my knowledge no similar collection of Strauss’s essays is available. Pangle’s introduction provides helpful background and instructive guideposts.”

— Fred Dallmayr, University of Notre Dame

“This volume not only brings together a collection of articles from one of the most important and influential twentieth-century political philosophers, but arranges those pieces so as to provide a clear and stimulating introduction to Strauss’s complex and often misunderstood ideas about politics and philosophy."

— Bernard Yack, Princeton University