Discovering hope in the lost continent 2

Essentials of Comparative Politics provides a framework based on the concepts that political scientists use to compare countries.

Who is it for? Students of political science.

Changes since last edition: A new chapter on political violence looks at revolution and terrorism across countries. The rise of Islamic fundamentalism is addressed in the discussions on religion and society, theocracy and religion in developing countries.

Other updates include events such as the Iraq war and the expansion of the European Union.

Presentation: Clear enough but pedestrian; layout is unexceptional.

Would you recommend it? No. It does not seem to have anything in particular to mark it out from a dozen, other, similar works.

Alex Danchev is professor of international relations at Nottingham University.