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Most readers have not agreed with Mark Twain in liking Joan of Arc best of all his novels, particularly because his hand is almost invisible in it. He presents the story as a translation by "Jean Francois Alden" of the remembrances of "Sieur Louis de Conte." He did not think readers would take a work by "Mark Twain" seriously. Only the initials S. L. C. indicate the connection between the actual and the presumed author. Twain considered Joan to be "the most extraordinary person the human race has ever produced." She was a woman—and a general. She genuinely believed that she was acting on the basis of commands from God. In relating her story, Twain nevertheless shows that nothing human, and certainly no government and no ruler, is entitled to divine honors or right.

A contribution to a symposium on Bertrand de Jouvenel highlights his appreciation of American political institutions. Jouvenel recognized the enormous power accessible in American society & saw basic restraints on government as political & moral necessities. However, he was a "pessimistic evolutionist" who stressed that restraining Power required "untimely wisdom and timely prudence." A champion of the politics of liberty, Jouvenel contended that the emphasis on an individualistic view of human nature was a critical flaw in American society. He argued that the Lockean notion of individual rights as separate from politics failed as a restraint on Power & political authority could only be curbed within & by law. Ways in which Jouvenel's thinking was in conflict with the New Deal are examined, along with his criticisms of the direction of political science in America; the political/constitutional challenge of balancing & stabilizing forces; the relationship between Power & interest groups; Jouvenel's regard for American political parties; & his contention that political liberty requires the "formalization" of politics. J. Lindroth