Download Best Full Audiobooks in Non-Fiction, Current Affairs, Law, & Politics

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Title: The Sphere and Duties of Government: The Limits of State Action

Author: Wilhelm Von Humboldt

Narrator: Derek Le Page

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 8 hours 36 minutes

Release date: March 22, 2021

Genres: Current Affairs, Law, & Politics

Publisher's Summary:

Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767-1835) now lives under the shadow cast by his more famous brother Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859, naturalist, explorer, geographer and much else), but Wilhelm was an important figure in Prussian-German history in his own right. He contributed considerably through his work as a diplomat, educationalist (he was one of the principal founders of the Humboldt University of Berlin), philologist and linguist. Yet The Sphere and Duties of Government (originally titled The Limits of State Action) has proved to be one of his most enduring legacies. It dates, surprisingly, from 1791, which explains its comparatively youthful sense of idealism and its overtly liberal stance, which countered the existing stifling political and social views. This is why it was never published in his lifetime, and only appeared in 1852 when Alexander, realising its importance, arranged for its publication. The purpose of the work, as Wilhelm von Humboldt expressed in his introduction, was ‘to discover the legitimate objects to which the energies of State organisations should be directed and define the limits within which those energies should be exercised'. Humboldt's views and works became an important source for John Stuart Mill's better-known work On Liberty which appeared in 1859 - five years after Humboldt's book first appeared in English. In short, the fundamental view of both was that the functions, and limits of government interference, were to be defined by ‘the prevention of harm to others'. This was a liberal view in the mid-19th-century world of Mill, but revolutionary in the closing decade of the 18th century. Humboldt considers his general topic in 16 chapters, beginning with the crucial overview: ‘Of the individual man, and the highest ends of his existence.' He pursues his theme through ‘the solicitude of the state for the positive welfare of the citizen', his personal security and his security ‘against foreign enemies'. He scrutinises subjects such as religion and ethics, the exercise of the judiciary and the role of punishment; and he even examines the welfare of minors and the less able. He concludes with the ‘practical application of the theory proposed'. As such, The Sphere and Duties of Government is an absorbing and questioning listen, and just as relevant today as controversy rages over the role and application of democracy versus other 21st-century forms of government, such as communism, totalitarianism, religious fundamentalism and those based on outright dictatorship.

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Title: Enquiry Concerning Political Justice: And Its Influence on Morals and Happiness

Author: William Godwin

Narrator: Michael Lunts

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 27 hours 49 minutes

Release date: September 30, 2020

Genres: Current Affairs, Law, & Politics

Publisher's Summary:

Enquiry Concerning Political Justice and Its Influence on Morals and Happiness by William Godwin (1756-1836) was first published in February 1793, the month following the execution of Louis XVI of France. It proved to be immediately popular and influential. Godwin, the son of a Calvinist preacher, was educated at Hoxton Academy, after which, he became a minister to a dissenter congregation in Ware. However, partially as a result of reading Rousseau, Helvetius and d' Holbach, his thinking changed and he left the ministry in 1783, the year the American war of Independence ended, by which point he had become a complete sceptic in matters of religion and turned to philosophy and ultimately to anarchism for the truth. This was to be a period of huge political turmoil and continuing uncertainty, which had seen revolution in America and France, as well as the madness of King George III and the Regency crisis. It was a time of Whigs and Tories, of frenzied political argument and a flood of political pamphlet publishing. The Enquiry came hot on the heels of Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790) and Thomas Paine's Rights of Man (1791-1792) in a time that witnessed severe government repression of civil liberties. In essence it is a wide- ranging disquisition on moral and political philosophy. Its central message or theme is that of the potential for human perfectibility through the pursuit of reason and truth. At times it has a visionary quality, which perhaps explains why its publication was met with such delighted excitement and approval by the young Romantic poets, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley and others. It appeared in a moment of great optimism, when there was a sense that the revolution would lead to sweeping reforms and the abolition of ancient abuses of privilege and inequality and hopes that traditional antagonisms and hostilities between England and France would soon come to an end. For a brief period Godwin was very much the toast of the town, but as the excesses of the Terror mounted in France and the heads rolled beneath the guillotine, thinking changed, attitudes hardened and the mood darkened. Godwin's star fell as rapidly as it had risen. England and France would go to war and as quickly as Godwin had been taken up by the young radicals he was cast aside by them as they matured into conservatives, both socially and politically, rejecting many of the ideas that had seemed so appealing to their younger selves. Godwin was seen as a figurehead for dangerous ideas and as being a representative of the somewhat wilder and more extreme ideas of the young Jacobins. Consequently, he became a scapegoat to be satirised and attacked. It is important to note, however, that although his book was published during revolutionary times Godwin, who was spoken of in social circles as ‘The Philosopher', never advocated violent revolutionary change but indeed insisted that change had to come about gradually and peacefully. He argued that people had to be persuaded, not coerced and advocated systematic philosophical radicalism since history had demonstrated that those who overthrew tyrants with violence frequently became tyrants themselves. Godwin's anarchist vision of society comprises three basic principles: ‘political simplicity', ‘public inspection' and ‘positive sincerity'. He declares in effect that there must be a complete restructuring of human society, prefiguring later thinkers such as Marx in maintaining th

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Title: The English Constitution

Author: Walter Bagehot

Narrator: Peter Wickham

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 11 hours 20 minutes

Release date: September 17, 2020

Genres: Current Affairs, Law, & Politics

Publisher's Summary:

Though published in 1867 when the British Empire was approaching its height, Walter Bagehot's essay 'The English Constitution' is not only one of the great political classics but is also an unquestionably relevant document for our times. Despite the passing of more than 150 years, despite huge changes in enfranchisement, in attitudes and in world order, this fascinating document prompts us to re-evaluate the process of government - wherever we live. And what is more, it is written with grace, elegance - and wit! Of course, it is a document of its time. It appeared just as the working classes of Britain were enfranchised by the Reform Act of 1867, which meant that Bagehot had to bring out another edition with an extended introduction. His comments are shrewd in some cases and will raise 21st-century eyebrows in others. Nevertheless, the body of the book remains a clear and astute look at how the famously ‘unwritten' English Constitution operates, with all its pros and its cons...a system that emerged over centuries to become a unique constitutional monarchy. The work is divided into nine chapters, including 'The Cabinet', 'The Monarchy', 'The House of Lords', 'The House of Commons', and 'Its Supposed Checks and Balances'. Overall, Bagehot (1826-1877) casts an admiring but coolly analytical eye over the whole construction. In a fascinating section, still apposite today, he compares the cabinet government of England with the presidential government of the US, pointing out that in the former, the executive and legislative functions are joined, whereas in the latter they are separated. Not surprisingly, Bagehot unequivocally prefers the former. He salutes the political temperance of English constitutional monarchy - though he acknowledges the performance of the individual on the throne can and does vary with the individual. When he refers appreciatively to his current monarch - ‘she' - one could almost be excused for thinking that he is speaking of Queen Elizabeth II! This appraisal of the English form of government, which evolved over time rather than being implanted with form and structure complete, is absorbing listening to all who are interested in the governing of societies, politics and England. This is true particularly because of the immense changes and challenges we are experiencing today. A classic commentary on its subject, it is read admirably by Peter Wickham.

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Title: The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844

Author: Friedrich Engels

Narrator: Derek Le Page

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 14 hours 5 minutes

Release date: December 9, 2019

Genres: Current Affairs, Law, & Politics

Publisher's Summary:

This remarkable account has had an enduring influence on social and economic studies and has remained in print since its first English publication in 1885. It was written, in German, by a youthful Friedrich Engels, the son of a German industrialist, who was already concerned - even angered - by the conditions he saw inflicted on the working classes as the Industrial Revolution gathered momentum. His first visit to England (1842-44) and what he saw there with his own eyes fuelled his concerns and prompted him to make this formal study. It is a remarkably mature document for a 24-year-old. Engels set out to show that the working classes in factories were far worse off in terms of general health, life expectancy, working hours and working conditions than they had been in the agricultural environment that existed in previous centuries. The 18th-century inventions such as the spinning jenny and the spinning throstle led to the growth and proliferation of factories, and the increasing use of steam and the growing demand for coal resulted in the ‘proletarians' being subjected to more and more brutal working environments. In business terms, it was a huge success - the demand for and the profits made in the trading of wool, cotton, linen, and the harder products of iron essential to the construction of railroads, bridges and steam ships, grew exponentially. In human terms it was a nightmare. ‘The frequent stooping and the bending to the low machines common to these branches of work have, in general, a stunting effect upon the growth of the operative. In the throstle-room of the cotton mill at Manchester, in which I was employed, I do not remember to have seen one single tall, well-built girl; they were all short, dumpy, and badly-formed, decidedly ugly in the whole development of the figure. But apart from all these diseases and malformations, the limbs of the operatives suffer in still another way. The work between the machinery gives rise to multitudes of accidents of more or less serious nature, which have for the operative the secondary effect of unfitting him for his work more or less completely. The most common accident is the squeezing off of a single joint of a finger, somewhat less common the loss of the whole finger, half or a whole hand, an arm, etc., in the machinery. Lockjaw very often follows, even upon the lesser among these injuries, and brings death with it.' ‘Manufacturing cities' such as Liverpool, Manchester, Preston, Bolton, Rochdale and others expanded at a rapid pace, but living and working conditions were given low priority. The poverty of the working man resulted in the slums filled with garbage and rotten dwellings in which large families lived in one room. As a result, higher mortality from disease and crime was inevitable. At a meeting in Paris in 1844, Engels showed his report to Karl Marx. It had a strong effect on Marx's future writings on economics, politics and the working classes, and the meeting engendered the close collaboration between the two which was to have such a dramatic effect on world history. In 1892, Engels wrote a new preface to his report, outlining the developments over the intervening half century, giving a fascinating perspective. It is with this preface that this recording starts.

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Title: The Communist Manifesto: The Text and the Historical Context

Author: Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels

Narrator: Derek Le Page

Format: Unabridged Audiobook

Length: 4 hours 7 minutes

Release date: April 26, 2019

Genres: Current Affairs, Law, & Politics

Publisher's Summary:

It could be argued that few documents have had such a considerable effect on the course of world social and political history as the manifesto of the Communist Party written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels and published in 1848. The social structures of the 19th century were undergoing considerable change yet even so it was over half a century before Communism claimed its first scalp with the 1917 Russian Revolution. This demonstrates that it was not the Manifesto alone that caused the upheaval, but the constant demand for change and constant activism that kept the clarion call of Communism alive. The first volume of Marx's immense work Capital appeared 20 years later, and Engels ensured that volumes 2 and 3 were published after Marx's death, maintaining the impetus of the economic message. But the manifesto - effectively just a pamphlet - was the rallying point, kept alive by repeated publication in numerous languages with Engels each time adding new ‘prefaces'; and around this was continuing activity in terms of pamphlets and leaflets hammering home principal issues. Derek Le Page has read, for Ukemi Audiobooks, the three volumes of Capital and Formative Early Writings by Karl Marx. He therefore brings a special understanding to this recording of the manifesto - and the additional writings which supported the growing Communist movement: the prefaces to the English and various German editions as well as the Polish and Italian editions. In addition, he reads other clarifying documents, including ‘Draft of a Communist Confession of Faith' and ‘The Principles of Communism'. It is only when the manifesto is read in conjunction with these documents that the reason for the growing strength of the Communist arguments in the social environment of the time can be more clearly understood. Certainly, its successes, its failures, and some horrifying effects throughout the 20th century and beyond, cannot be ignored.