A review by caffeinated_bookaholic
Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville

5.0

I've heard some skepticism of Tocqueville's accuracy since he was a foreign observer, but it seems to me his impartial view brings something of value. Some of his observations (particularly about the impact of easy-access news media, and about the tension between democracy/individualism/materialism) could have been about today just as much as the 1830s. I found his analysis of the slavery problem very on point to what ended up happening, too, which wasn't something everyone recognized at that time. The thesis of looking at democracy as a phenomenon, and as an American situation, and why it happened that way, is incredibly useful for a modern mind which often takes the historical and geographic situation of the founding for granted. Understanding why a thing started is a good way to understand how it may develop and why it is how it is today, in my mind.
The second volume was less cogent than the first, but had a lot of fun little observations. These I think were more germane to his day than ours, but still entertaining if nothing else.