Introduction to Political Science

Rating:
Summary: Great Introduction to the Subject!
Review: After reading this book in its entirety, it is obvious that it was written in a way to make political science interesting to someone familiarizing themself with the subject. Being a current grad student, I have read many books that beg to be used as a paperweight. They are either way off topic and monotonous, or so incomplete that one feels empty after going to the effort to read them. This book gives the reader neither of those feelings. The author knew who his audience would be and wrote for them. Its content is rich in history, theory, and practicality. I highly recommend this book to anyone who either wants to reacquaint themselves with government and its purpose or to those who are deciding if they want to learn more about their societal/governmental systems.

Rating:
Summary: So bad you wonder what happened
Review: When I arrived at the university where I am currently teaching, this book had already been selected as the textbook for my Introduction to Political Science classes. I was so embarrassed by the book that I told my students not to bother purchasing it. Problems included:

-simplistic "dumbed down" conversational writing style with many ungrammatical sentences.

-errors in formatting and type-style; one famous Greek philosopher was listed as having a life span of over 3,000 years.

-less than 1/4 of the book covers the areas of comparative politics and international relations.

The author is listed as being on the faculty of West Virginia U., but he is not mentioned on WVU's website, so I presume he is now somewhere else. My email to the publisher's customer comments department about the quality of this book did not get a response.