Get the rubber habit! Book

There's simply no doubt that this book is incredibly important. In graduate school, I was assigned it by three separate professors, in two different institutions. So why the low rating? It's an excruciating read: pretentious, tedious, turgid. Pocock certainly has a knack for marketing a banality as a profundity. After all, this is the guy who managed to convince much of the modern academy that Harrington was worth listening to, and that Jefferson's interest in him wasn't just another eccentricity. I urge you no to fall for that.

Though I do admit that I have kept a copy of this book on my night stand for more than fifteen years. I pick it up when I can't sleep. Works almost everytime.