John Neville Figgis (1866-1919), author of The Divine Right of Kings and Churches in the Modern State, here constructs a concise history of early political thought. First published in 1907, Figgis's account was written very much under the influence of F.W. Maitland's pluralism. In this it contrasts with Figgis's earlier book, The Divine Right of Kings, which was largely informed by the Austinian theory of sovereignty. Gerson to Grotius emphasizes the way in which modern political ideas developed from struggles within the late-medieval Church to bring about more decentralized forms of government. This reprint is from the second edition of 1916.