The Spirit of Laws (Volume 1): Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

The Spirit of Laws (Volume 1), credited to Charles-Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of The Spirit of Laws (Volume 1), by Montesquieu. Read by Benjamin Gittins. This audiobook covers Volume 1 (Books I to XIX) of "The Spirit of the Laws" (French: De "l'esprit des lois", also sometimes called "The Spirit of Laws"). Spirit of Laws is a treatise on political theory first published anonymously by Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu in 1748 with the help of Claudine Guérin de Tencin. Originally published anonymously partly because Montesquieu's works were subject to censorship, its influence outside of France was aided by its rapid translation into other languages. Montesquieu's political treatise had an enormous influence on the work of many others, most notably: Catherine the Great, who produced Nakaz (Instruction); the Founding Fathers of the United States Constitution; and Alexis de Tocqueville, who applied Montesquieu's methods to a study of American society, in Democracy in America. In this political treatise Montesquieu pleaded in favor of a constitutional system of government and the separation of powers, the ending of slavery, the preservation of civil liberties and the law, and the idea that political institutions ought to reflect the social and geographical aspects of each community. (Introduction by Wikipedia)

Recording facts

• Recording title: The Spirit of Laws (Volume 1)
• Author credits: Charles-Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 25
• Listed recording duration: 14:07:09

Catalogue topics

• politics
• philosophy
• montesquieu
• political theory
• 18th century

Opening tracks: first 24 of 25

1. 01 - The Translator to the Reader — 20:08
2. 02 - Preface — 6:50
3. 03 - Advertisement — 3:02
4. 04 - Book 1. Of Laws in General — 15:26
5. 05 - Book 2. Of Laws Directly Derived from the Nature of Government — 25:51
6. 06 - Book 3. Of the Principles of the Three Kinds of Government — 22:37
7. 07 - Book 4. That the Laws of Education Ought to Be in Relation to the Principles of Government — 25:12
8. 08 - Book 5a. That the Laws Given by the Legislator Ought to Be in Relation to the Principle of Government — 44:07
9. 09 - Book 5b. That the Laws Given by the Legislator Ought to Be in Relation to the Principle of Government — 35:07
10. 10 - Book 6. Consequences of the Principles of Different Governments with respect to the Simplicity of Civil and Criminal Laws, and the Inflicting of Punishments — 58:50
11. 11 - Book 7. Consequences of the Different Principles of the Three Governments with Respect to Sumptuary Laws, Luxury, and the Condition of Women. — 38:54
12. 12 - Book 8. Of the Corruption of the Principles of the Three Governments — 40:53
13. 13 - Book 9. Of Laws in the Relation they Bear to a Defensive Force — 16:54
14. 14 - Book 10. Of Laws in the Relation they Bear to an Offensive Force — 37:26
15. 15 - Book 11a. Of the Laws Which Establish Political Liberty With Regard to the Constitution. — 40:12
16. 16 - Book 11b. Of the Laws Which Establish Political Liberty With Regard to the Constitution — 48:17
17. 17 - Book 12a. Of the Laws That Form Political Liberty, In Relation to the subject — 37:38
18. 18 - Book 12b. Of the Laws That Form Political Liberty, In Relation to the subjec — 30:39
19. 19 - Book 13. Of the Relation which the Levying of Taxes and the Greatness of the Public Revenues Bear to Liberty — 38:57
20. 20 - Book 14. Of laws in relation to the nature of the climate — 37:24
21. 21 - Book 15. In What Manner the Laws of Civil Slavery Relate to the Nature of the Climate — 47:05
22. 22 - Book 16. How the Laws of Domestic Slavery bear a relation to the nature of the climate — 33:56
23. 23 - Book 17. How the Laws of Political Servitude bear a relation to the nature of the climate. — 18:22
24. 24 - Book 18. Of Laws in the Relation They Bear to the Nature of the Soil — 55:21

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Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.