Andrew Fletcher: Political Works

Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun (1653-1716) was one of the most acute observers of the European political order of his time, and an important forerunner of the Scottish Enlightenment. Famous in his own day and since for his patriotic opposition to the Anglo-Scottish Union of 1707, Fletcher was an admirer of the ancients and a student of Machiavelli, who would adapt Machiavelli’s strictly political concepts of a world increasingly shaped by commerce. His works address the fate of small nations dominated by larger, the advantages and disadvantages of great capital cities, and the prospects for new forms of political union which would be to the benefit of all of Europe’s regions. This is the first complete modern edition of Fletcher’s works. The editor’s introduction draws on new research into Fletcher’s life and thought, and the annotated text enables readers to appreciate for the first time the range and sharpness of Fletcher’s analysis.