The Dialogue in Hell Between Machiavelli and Montesquieu
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The Dialogue in Hell Between Machiavelli and Montesquieu (in the original French Dialogue aux enfers entre Machiavel et Montesquieu) is a satirical book written by Maurice Joly, an attorney with political views that were conservative, monarchist, and legitimistic, which was first published in Geneva, Switzerland in 1864. It was written in protest to the regime of Napoleon III.
In the book Niccolò di Bernardo Machiavelli and Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brede et de Montesquieu engage in dialectical argument, with Machiavelli (whom Joly consigned to hell because he believed Machiavelli's work The Prince was almost a "how-to" manual for usurpers) taking the case for the power of the state as ultimate authority and Montesquieu (whom Joly consigned to hell for supporting the idea of popular sovereignty, which the legitimistic Joly refused to tolerate) putting forth a contrasting liberal thesis. The book was banned by the Napoleonic regime and confiscated upon distribution into France. Joly was imprisoned for fifteen months for having written the work.
The book does not delve into the matters of race or religion, but elements of the text are similar to lines found in The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
[edit] References
- Library of Curious and Interesting Facts' - Vol. "Manias and Delusions"; Time-Life publishers.
