Described as both the ''Hobbes of our age'' and as ''the philosophical godfather of Nazism,'' Carl Schmitt was a brilliant and controversial political theorist whose doctrine of political leadership and criticism of liberal democratic ideals and institutions distinguish him as one of the most original contributors to the theory of modern politics. In Political Romanticism he defends a concept of political action based on notions of good and evil, justice and injustice, and attacks the political passivity entailed by the romanticism of experience.

''Characteristic of Schmitt's artfully crafted prose is a shrewd oscillation between the cold and the feverish, the academic and the prophetic, the analytical and the mythical.... His books plait together sober theoretical observations with near-ecstatic political intimations. (Suggesting that the direction of world history is at stake, he can make discussions of constitutional technicalities glow incandescently.) ... Because of their mixture of sober insight and apocalyptic pretension, his writings remain arresting - and disquieting.'' -- Stephen Holmes, The New Republic