"In this book Paul Franco provides an authoritative introduction to the life and thought of Michael Oakeshott, one of the most important philosophical voices of the twentieth century. After sketching a brief biography of Oakeshott, Franco examines his most distinctive ideas, including his early idealist theory of knowledge, his influential critique of rationalism and central social planning, and his liberal theory of civil association. The author argues that Oakeshott makes important contributions both to conservatism and to liberal theory, and he compares Oakeshott with such other contemporary thinkers as Hayek, Strauss, Berlin, Rawls, and Rorty." "This book is an essential introduction to the whole range of Oakeshott's thought, and it sets the philosopher's work in historical context while also demonstrating its relevance to twenty-first-century debates in political philosophy."--BOOK JACKET.