Political ideas of Harold J. Laski

This book belongs to all those who, by their writing, teaching, or
conversation, have contributed to my education during the last thirty
belongs to my teachers-especially to the late
Franz L. Neumann, who was my principal guide and critic at every
stage in the preparation of this study of Harold Laski. With char-
acteristic generosity he made available to me his amazing store of
knowledge, his keen powers of analysis, and his deep concern for
the problems of political theory. As a result of his careful comments
and criticisms, much of the original manuscript was revised. It is
unspeakably difficult to face the fact that this great teacher and de-
voted friend will no longer be one of the leaders of the intellectual
life of Columbia University.
My gratitude to Robert M. MacIver, whose wise counsel and criti-
cism have saved me from many errors in analysis and evaluation, is
far greater than my ability to express it.
I am indebted to all those who helped to make my year in England
so pleasant and profitable, and particularly to those who generously
gave me their time to discuss Laski and his work. I am especially
grateful to Frida Laski and to her daughter, Diana Matthewson, for
their kindness and assistance.
Among my many debts to Columbia University, it is a great pleas-
ure to acknowledge the Henry Evans Traveling Fellowship, which
permitted me to begin my graduate studies at Harvard University in
1946–1947, and the William Bayard Cutting Traveling Fellowship,
which allowed me to spend the academic year 1950–1951 in England.