Nietzsche's Great Politics - by Hugo Drochon (Paperback)

About the Book

Nietzsche's impact on the world of culture, philosophy, and the arts is uncontested, but his political thought remains mired in controversy. By placing Nietzsche back in his late-nineteenth-century German context, Nietzsche's Great Politics moves away from the disputes surrounding Nietzsche's appropriation by the Nazis and challenges the use of the philosopher in postmodern democratic thought. Rather than starting with contemporary democratic theory or continental philosophy, Hugo Drochon argues that Nietzsche's political ideas must first be understood in light of Bismarck's policies, in particular his -Great Politics,- which transformed the international politics of the late nineteenth century. Nietzsche's Great Politics shows how Nietzsche made Bismarck's notion his own, enabling him to offer a vision of a unified European political order that was to serve as a counterbalance to both Britain and Russia. This order was to be led by a -good European- cultural elite whose goal would be to encourage the rebirth of Greek high culture. In relocating Nietzsche's politics to their own time, the book offers not only a novel reading of the philosopher but also a more accurate picture of why his political thought remains so relevant today. -- from dust jacket.

Book Synopsis

"A superb case of deep intellectual renewal and the most important book to have been written about [Nietzsche] in the past few years."--Gavin Jacobson, New Statesman

Nietzsche's impact on the world of culture, philosophy, and the arts is uncontested, but his political thought remains mired in controversy. By placing Nietzsche back in his late-nineteenth-century German context, Nietzsche's Great Politics moves away from the disputes surrounding Nietzsche's appropriation by the Nazis and challenges the use of the philosopher in postmodern democratic thought. Rather than starting with contemporary democratic theory or continental philosophy, Hugo Drochon argues that Nietzsche's political ideas must first be understood in light of Bismarck's policies, in particular his "Great Politics," which transformed the international politics of the late nineteenth century.

Nietzsche's Great Politics shows how Nietzsche made Bismarck's notion his own, enabling him to offer a vision of a unified European political order that was to serve as a counterbalance to both Britain and Russia. This order was to be led by a "good European" cultural elite whose goal would be to encourage the rebirth of Greek high culture. In relocating Nietzsche's politics to their own time, the book offers not only a novel reading of the philosopher but also a more accurate picture of why his political thought remains so relevant today.

From the Back Cover

"This excellent, illuminating book deserves to become a standard work for all scholars and students of Nietzsche, and it will be indispensable to scholars of his political thought. Hugo Drochon provides a great deal of new insight into Nietzsche's work as well as its relevance in the contemporary world."--Tamsin Shaw, New York University

Review Quotes

"Nietzsche's Great Politics by Hugo Drochon is one of the most creative and original efforts to mould Nietzsche's thought to the challenges of our age. Nietzsche always wanted to have creative and critical readers and this book certainly lives up to that ideal."---Damian Valdez, History of European Ideas

"A daring and welcome attempt to re-historicize one of the nineteenth century's most controversial philosophers, and should be read with great interest by scholars of Nietzsche, as well as students of European culture, thought and politics."---Rebecca Mitchell, Politics, Religion & Ideology

"A realist interpretation of Nietzsche's politics . . . well written and readable. . . . While Nietzsche's political analyses of the late nineteenth century act as a well-timed reminder of both the fragility and worth of European integration, the general premises of his political philosophy provide us with highly useful conceptual tools for rethinking many of our political categories."---Gulsen Seven, Political Studies Review

"A thought-provoking contribution to the debate over Nietzsche's politics. . . . [It] contains plenty to interest the contemporary Nietzsche scholar, providing insight into Nietzsche's political statements and offering a tantalising glimpse into his preparations for a great role in the politics of his age."---Simon Townsend, Contemporary Political Theory

"A well-written and well-argued account of Nietzsche's political vision that presents itself squarely within the tradition of Cambridge School intellectual history . . . Drochon is entirely right to conclude that Nietzsche does field a relatively coherent vision of political life, and he is also on the mark in his conclusion that Nietzsche's politics remains a politics of the nineteenth century that cannot fully be translated into the present."---Christian J. Emden, Journal of Nietzsche Studies

"Among the most illuminating studies that have been written on the topic of Nietzsche's political thought. . . .Those who confidently maintain that Nietzsche has no 'politics' will be forced, if not to abandon their view completely, then seriously to reconsider it."-- "Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews"

"Drochon's book is a stimulating and fascinating contribution to our understanding of Nietzsche's enigmatic writings. Without a doubt, it will become the standard reference work for everyone interested in the philosopher's complex political thought and its many legacies."---Udi Greenberg, Politics, Religion & Ideology

"Drochon's book is an important contribution to the ongoing debate about the question whether Nietzsche should be regarded as a political thinker. . . . The whole book, which also focuses on Nietzsche's views about the Greeks, the state, democracy, and the relation of democracy to aristocracy, is a carefully construed and well-documented argument that Nietzsche did indeed make a contribution to political thought."---Manuel Knoll, Nietzsche-Studien

"Drochon's book largely succeeds. . . . He demonstrates that Nietzsche had political considerations that stretched with some consistency across his career, which should be sufficient to call Nietzsche a political philosopher, and, indeed the sort of political philosopher ill-suited to Nazi appropriation."---Natasha Leonard, Dissent

"Excellent. . . . Even a review essay cannot adequately capture the depth of scholarship and the originality present in [Nietzsche's Great Politics]. . . . Students of Nietzsche's political provocations will want to read [it] in order to see how Nietzsche wrote a politics for the future predicated upon his careful reading of both his predecessors and his contemporaries."---Corey McCall, Comparative and Continental Philosophy

"Extraordinary book . . . . Drochon masterfully articulates a credible account of Nietzsche's political action programme. . . . [A] rich, luminous and comprehensive argument."---Renato Cristi, History of Political Thought

"For historians and political theorists alike, Drochon's assessment of Nietzsche's Great Politics sets a new standard, introducing readers to a political reading of the philosopher, and unearthing urgent new routes to be explored."---Emily Steinhauer, H-Diplo

"Hugo Drochon provides an invaluable service by drawing our attention to Nietzsche's political philosophy, which he contends has been either neglected or misunderstood. . . . In a world where liberal and egalitarian pieties seem to be under strain, his views, however disquieting, merit our attention and Drochon is to be congratulated for exploring them in a subtle and sophisticated volume."---James Chappel, Politics, Religion & Ideology

"Hugo Drochon sets out to show that Nietzsche had a 'politics' after all. [He] in large part succeeds, and gives an illuminating account of Nietzsche's vision for a unified, cosmopolitan Europe. . . . This is a learned book that does a nice job of situating Nietzsche in his social and political context. . . . Drochon's is a book from which one will learn a great deal, and . . . Will challenge us to reconsider our opinions about Nietzsche and his place in history."---Andrew Huddleston, Times Literary Supplement

"Hugo Drochon, a distinguished intellectual historian at Cambridge University, has in this brilliant new book pointed to another thinker who believed private protection agencies were possible. This is none other than Friedrich Nietzsche."---David Gordon, Mises Institute

"In the otherwise crowded field of Nietzsche scholarship, this book has received an unusual and deserved amount of popular attention. In part, this follows from the strong reassertion today of various illiberal voices. Drochon's concluding questions, concerning the purpose of European unity and the role of European elites, are inescapable."---Michael Lang, Journal of Modern History

"In this compelling and accessible study, Drochon--a historian of 19th- and 20th-century political thought--argues the affirmative case, contending that Nietzsche articulated a 'great politics' centered on the unification of Continental Europe under the aegis of a cultivated, interbred class of superior individuals who would ultimately lead a geopolitical struggle against Great Britain and Russia for world supremacy. . . . One can find lots of books on Nietzsche, but this one stands out for its clarity and excellence."-- "Choice"

"It is to the supreme credit of Hugo Drochon's Nietzsche's Great Politics to see that . . . his study succeeds in delivering a well-researched and thoughtful analysis of Nietzsche's 'great politics' in the context of both Nietzsche's writings and their cultural and political settings. . . . A provocative and timely study."---Dale Wilkerson, Review of Metaphysics

"Longlisted for the 2017 Bronislaw Geremek First Academic Book Prize, College of Europe"

"Necessary reading for anyone working on Nietzsche as a political thinker. . . . Drochon provides a fine way into these questions surrounding Nietzsche's thought about great politics. He provides a scrupulous account of Nietzsche's political thought and a stimulating argument for a way of taking Nietzsche seriously from a political point of view."---Barry Stocker, Los Angeles Review of Books

"One of CHOICE's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2017"

"Rigorous in its close reading of the sources and written with great clarity. . . . Drochon also persuasively demonstrates that Nietzsche's thought has a place within the canon of the history of political thought and that his political theory may prove resourceful when dealing with the specters that haunt liberal democracies and market societies today."---Dotan Leshem, Politics, Religion & Ideology

"The book achieves its stated goal with aplomb as it follows the development of political ideas in Nietzsche's works, and it deserves to become a standard reference text for advanced students and Nietzsche scholars."---Mina Mitreva, Past Imperfect

"The task that Hugo Drochon sets himself is to reinsert some political content into Nietzsche and show that he had a systematic political theory. The result is a superb case of deep intellectual renewal and the most important book to have been written about him in the past few years."---Gavin Jacobson, New Statesman

"There is much to recommend in Drochon's bold, erudite, and lucid study of Nietzsche's political thought. In particular, Drochon should be commended for meeting the rigorous demands of a contextualist methodology while also demonstrating Nietzsche's contemporary relevance. Drochon's philosophic interpretation is thus both historically grounded and timely. Nietzsche's Great Politics will surely open up new areas of research and revitalize ostensibly settled questions of interpretation."---Paul Wilford, The Review of Politics

"There is no lack of contemporary publications that deal forthrightly with Nietzsche's political thinking: these include Hugo Drochon's Nietzsche's Great Politics. "---Alex Ross, New Yorker

"This book is not so much a reclamation of his [Nietzsche's] thinking on the subject as a reconstruction of the development of political thinking in the philosopher's works, so often missed by those who require thinking and expression less profound to make sense of such. Coherent, detailed and balanced."---Daniel Binney, Times Higher Education

About the Author

Hugo Drochon is a historian of nineteenth- and twentieth-century political thought and a postdoctoral research fellow at CRASSH, the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities, at the University of Cambridge.