In this unique book, Peter J. Stanlis, the leading Burke scholar in America, has collected all the most important works and speeches of Edmund Burke (1729-1797), British statesman, political philosopher, and founder of modern conservative thought and, with due care to preserve the beauty of Burke's prose, edited them down to their essentials

1: Early Writings; 1: A Vindication of Natural Society or, A View of the Miseries and Evils Arising to Mankind from Every Species of Artificial Society In a Letter to Lord * * * * by a Late Noble Writer 1756; 2: An Essay towards an Abridgment of the English History in Three Books [1757]; 3: Selections from Book Reviews in the Annual Register; 2: America and the British Empire; 4: A Short Account of A Late Short Administration 1766; 5: Thoughts on The Cause of the Present Discontents....1770; 6: Speech on Moving His Resolutions for Conciliation with the Colonies March 22, 1775; 7: A Letter to John Farr and John Harris, Esqrs. Sheriffs of the City of Bristol on the Affairs of America 1777; 3: Ireland and Catholic Emancipation; 8: Fragments of a Tract Relative to the Laws against Popery in Ireland [1765]; 9: A Letter to A Peer of Ireland on the Penal Laws against Irish Catholics, Previous to The Late Repeal of a Part There of in The Session of the Irish Parliament Held A.D. 1782; 10: A Letter to Sir Hercules Langrishe, Bart., M.P. on the Subject of The Roman Catholics of Ireland and The Propriety of Admitting Them to the Elective Franchise, Consistently with the Principles of the Constitution as Established at the Revolution 1792; 11: A Letter to Richard Burke, Esq. on Protestant Ascendency in Ireland 1793; 12: A Letter to William Smith, Esq. on the Subject of Catholic Emancipation January 29, 1795; 13: Second Letter to Sir Hercules Langrishe on the Catholic Question May 26, 1795; 4: Economical Reform; 14: Speech on Presenting to the House of Commons (on the 11th February, 1780) A Plan for The Better Security of the Independence of Parliament, and the Economical Reformation of the Civil and Other Establishments; 5: Miscellaneous Constitutional Affairs; 15: Speech on ... the Middlesex Election [1771]; 16: Speech on the Acts of Uniformity [1772]; 17: Speech on ... the Relief of Protestant Dissenters [1773]; 18: Speech on ... the Petition of the Unitarian Society [1792]; 19: A Letter to the Chairman of the Buckinghamshire Meeting, Held at Aylesbury, April 13, 1780, on the Subject of Parliamentary Reform; 20: Speech on ... the Duration of Parliaments [1780]; 21: Speech on ... the Representation of the Commons in Parliament [1782]; 6: India and the Impeachment of Hastings; 22: Ninth Report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons on the Affairs of India June 25, 1783; 23: Speech (December 1, 1783) upon The Question for the Speaker's Leaving the Chair in Order for the House to Resolve Itself into a Committee on Mr. Fox's East India Bill; 24: Speeches in the Impeachment of Warren Hastings, Esquire, hate Governor General of Bengal [1788]; 7: The French Revolution; 25: A Letter to M. Depont [1789]; 26: Reflections on the Revolution in France, and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to That Event: in a Letter Intended to Have Been Sent to a Gentleman in Paris 1790; 27: A Letter to a Member of the National Assembly, in Answer to Some Objections to His Book on French Affairs 1791; 28: An Appeal from the New to the Old Whigs, in Consequence of Some Late Discussions in Parliament Relative to the Reflections on the French Revolution 1791; 29: A Letter to William Elliot, Esq., Occasioned by the Account Given in a Newspaper of the Speech Made in the House of Lords by the **** of ******* in the Debate concerning Lord Fitzwilliam 1795; 8: Defense of His Life; 30: A Letter to a Noble Lord on the Attacks Made upon Mr. Burke and His Pension, in the House of Lords, by the Duke of Bedford and the Earl of Lauderdale, Early in the Present Session of Parliament 1795