Ben Holland is a lecturer in international relations in the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Nottingham. He has published articles in academic journals such as History of Political Thought, International Studies Quarterly and Philosophy and Social Criticism. He is currently an editor of Political Studies and Political Studies Review.

• Introduction. Body, souls, persons, states; Part I: 1. The constitution of the free person; 2. The constitution of the person of the state; Part II: 3. Continental appropriations: the moral person of the state and the law of nations; 4. Atlantic appropriations: breaking and making composite polities; 5. Anglo-German interpretations: the moral person of the state and the legal person of the state; Conclusion.

'In this fascinating book, Holland provides a refreshing reinterpretation of Pufendorf's notion of the state as a moral person, with profound implications for our understanding of the subsequent trajectory of this notion and its impact on posterity, both of which are not very well known. Highly original and persuasively written, this book should be of interest not only to students of political thought, but to anyone interested in the increasingly shaky foundations of modern political and legal order.' Jens Bartelson, Lunds Universitet, Sweden