Larry Siedentop

Who is Larry Siedentop?

Larry Siedentop is a Political Philosopher. He is especially interested in nineteenth-century French liberalism and is the author of the book Democracy in Europe, and an occasional contributor to several major British daily newspapers, including the Financial Times and The Times. He was born in the United States, where he attended Hope College in Michigan —a liberal arts college affiliated with the Reformed Church in America — and Harvard University, where he received his AM degree.

His further education included a DPhil degree on the thought of Joseph de Maistre and Maine de Biran at Magdalen College, Oxford, under the supervision of Sir Isaiah Berlin. From 1965 to 1968, Siedentop was a Research Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford, and he spent virtually his entire academic career as a Fellow of Keble College, Oxford, and a University Lecturer at Oxford University.

Democracy in Europe has deliberate echoes of Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America. In addition, Siedentop is the author of an intellectual biography, Tocqueville, the editor of Francois Guizot's History of Civilization in Europe, and the co-editor of The Nature of Political Theory.