Keith Ansell-Pearson's book is an important and very welcome contribution to a neglected area of research: Nietzsche's political thought. Nietzsche is widely regarded as a significant moral philosopher, but his political thinking has often been dismissed as either impossibly individualistic or dangerously totalitarian. Nietzsche contra Rousseau takes a serious look at Nietzsche as political thinker and relates his political ideas to the dominant traditions of modern political thought. In particular, the nature of Nietzsche's dialogue with the philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau is examined, in order to demonstrate Rousseau's crucial role in Nietzsche's understanding of modernity and its discontents.

‘…a major achievement to have so successfully and originally marked out the arena in which Nietzsche’s moral and political thought took shape…effectively modulating fine–grained exegesis with critical commentary…written with power, passion and persuasiveness.’

Source: The Times Higher Education Supplement

‘In order to secure a point of entry into this forbidding dimension of Nietzsche’s thought, Ansell–Pearson deploys a novel – and highly successful – interpretive strategy…an ambitious study of Nietzsche’s moral and political thought and a formidable accomplishment.’

Source: Review of Metaphysics