A biography of Justus M ser often called the Edmund Burke of Germany ad the father of German conservatism.

Preface; Acknowledgments; Abbreviations; 1. Justus Möser in the German Enlightenment; 2. Möser's social universe: urban notability and Enlightenment intelligentsia; 3. Möser's political universe: secular politics in a confessional state; 4. Möser's historical universe: regional history and cosmopolitan history; 5. The party of incremental movement: social and economic reform in Möser's Osnabrück; 6. Möser's social theory: local patriotism and the defense of the estates; 7. The dialectic of Enlightenment: the debate over theory and practice; Bibliography; Index.