在政治理论领域，“剑桥政治思想史原著系列”作为主要的学生教科丛书，如今已牢固确立了其地位。本丛书旨在使学生能够获得从古腊到20世纪初期西方政治思想史方面所有最为重要的原著；它囊括了所有著名的经典原著，但与此同时，它又扩展了传统的评价尺度，以便能够纳入范围广泛。不那么出名的作品；而在此之前，这些作品中有许多从未有过现代英文版本可资利用。只要可能，所选原著都会以完整而不删节的形式出版，其中的译作则是专门为本丛书的目的而安排。每一本书都有一个评论性的导言，加上历史年表、生平梗概、进一步阅读指南。以及必要的词汇表和原文注解。本丛书的最终目的是，为西方政治思想的整个发展脉络提供一个清晰的轮廓。
作者简介：
Joseph Priestley(1733-1804)was one of the great intellectual figures of the English Enlightenment and also one of its outstanding political theorists. His discussion of ' civil liberty's crucial to understanding the debates that swirled around the War of American Independence and the Dissenters' bid for wider religious toleration. His response to these events was informed by his central commitment to a natural right to 'freedom of thought'. Despite the fundamental importance of this concept in modern political thought priestley's role in its articulation has been ill-served by the absence of a modern edition of those works in which the argument was forged. This new collection will be the first to make accessible to students Priestley's Essay on the First Principles of Government and The Present State of Liberty in Great Britain and America, which reflect his most concentrated engagement with these issues at a crucial moment in his own life and that of the state. An introduction and notes, together with guides to further reading and key figures in the text, provide the student with all the material necessary for approaching Priestley.

Achnowledgements
Introduction
Chronology of Joseph Priestley s life
Biographical guide
Essay on the first Principles
The Present State of Liberty
Index