Nichols examines the major writings of Alexandre Koj_ve, and clarifies the character and brings to light the importance of his political philosophy. While emphasizing the political dimension of Koj_ve's thought, Nichols treats all his major published writings and shows how the remarkably varied parts of Koj_ve's intellectual endeavor go together. This is an essential assessment of Koj_ve which considers the works that preceded his turn to Hegel, seeks to articulate the character of his Hegelianism, and reflects in detail on the two different meanings that the end of history had in two different periods of his thought.

"It is James H. Nichols, Jr., who can be thanked for giving us the first (abridged) English translation of Kojeve's Introduction to the Reading of Hegel, a book that established Kojeve's well-deserved reputation in France as one of the most original and influential thinkers of the twentieth century…. Nichols' is precisely the sort of book that one should keep by one's side…. Nichols has provided us with a concise but comprehensive introduction to one of the most intriguing philosophers of the twentieth century." - Society