Unique in American political history, John Randolph of Roanoke (1773-1833) was an accomplished orator, some would say the most remarkable individual ever to serve in Congress, and - in the words of Dumas Malone - "a merciless castigator of iniquity."

With the exception of Jefferson's first presidential term, Randolph spent his entire public career in opposition - to both Jeffersonians and Federalists. He was, in the judgment of Russell Kirk, "devoted to state rights, the agricultural interest, economy in government and freedom from foreign entanglements."

In sum, Randolph was passionately devoted to individual liberty, and expressed this devotion in the observation, "I love liberty; therefore I hate equality." Dr Kirk's examination of Randolph is an essay in both political theory and American history. In the very month before he died in 1994, the author completed his revisions for this final edition. Included is a recently discovered first-hand account of Randolph's death in Philadelphia. Russell Kirk is the author of "The Conservative Mind".