Alexis de Tocqueville is recognized as one of the most important nineteenth-century historians. In this perceptive study, Harvey Mitchell examines Tocqueville's works, in particular Souvenirs of 1848 and his voluminous correspondence, to shed new light on Tocqueville's philosophy of history. Professor Mitchell exposes the tensions which Tocqueville perceived between determined actions and choice, continuity and change, asking what happens to individual liberty if it is impossible to make a clean break with the past, and if past developments continue to influence the future. Professor Mitchell draws on the full range of Tocqueville's writings to find in them a unity of thought and a deep involvement with the philosophical questions raised by historical continuity and change.

"...an elegantly erudite reappraisal of Tocqueville as a historian....Mitchell provides an enticing introduction to Tocqueville....we can be grateful to historians like Mitchell." The Vancouver Sun

"This book is based on a wide and sensitive reading of the primary and secondary literature. Recommended for all university libraries." Choice

"This is an important contribution to the expanding universe of Tocqueville scholarship. Harvey Mitchell has seized upon a major dilemma in the study of Tocqueville...Mitchell is at his very best." American Historical Review