Frederick the Great's Philosophical Writings

The first modern English edition of diverse Enlightenment-era writings by Prussian monarch Frederick the Great

Frederick II of Prussia (1712¿1786), best known as Frederick the Great, was a prolific writer of philosophical discourses, poems, epics, satires, and more, while maintaining extensive correspondence with prominent intellectuals, Voltaire among them. This edition of selected writings, the first to make a wide range of Frederick¿s most important ideas available to a modern English readership, moves beyond traditional attempts to see his work only in light of his political aims. In these pages, we can finally appreciate Frederick¿s influential contributions to the European Enlightenment¿and his unusual role as a monarch who was also a published author.

In addition to Frederick¿s major opus, the Anti-Machiavel, the works presented here include essays, prefaces, reviews, and dialogues. The subjects discussed run the gamut from ethics to religion to po