The Spirit of Laws

The Spirit of the Laws is one of the great Enlightenment-era documents of political philosophy and comparative law. Written and researched by the Baron of Montesquieu over the course of decades, The Spirit of the Laws is the culmination of a lifetime of study in civics, politics, geography, history, and classics. Published in 1748, defended in a separate treatise in 1750, and updated again in 1757, The Spirit of the Laws underwent significant developments before it reached its final form. It is both a product of its time and a significantly influential work on Western political thought in continental Europe and the Americas.

The author, Charles-Louis de Secondat Baron de Montesquieu (now known simply as Montesquieu), was a French nobleman who first rose to literary fame with the publication of the Persian Letters, a witty account of fictional correspondence between two Persian men observing the customs of 18th-century Europe. He was educated in the law and served in Parlement (an appellate court of the French monarchy) as a jurist and judge where he oversaw criminal proceedings for over a decade. He then went on an extended expedition abroad, staying in several major European centers.