SOCIETY MUST BE DEFENDED is a full transcript of the lectures given by Foucault at the College de France in 1975-76. The main theme of the lectures is the contention that war can be used to analyse power relations. Foucault contends that politics isa continuation of war by other means. Thus, any constitutional theory of sovereignty and right is an attempt to refute the fact that power relations are based upon a relationship of conflict, violence and domination. The book is coloured with historical examples, drawn from the early modern period in both England and France, with wonderful digressions into subjects as diverse as classical French tragedy and the gothic novel.