Hegel's philosophy is essential to the history of ideas and to the development of philosophy and thought ever since. His "Philosophy of Right" is one of the great works in political philosophy and its importance to contemporary philosophy has been ongoing. It offers very important contributions to topics of great interest in political philosophy from discussions of persons and rights, property, punishment, moral psychology, civil society, freedom and war. Most significant is the work's relation to Marxist thought and its major critique of Kant. Dudley Knowles provides the most accessible introduction to this monumental work. He reviews Hegel's life and the background to the work and carefully explains and discusses the key concepts of Hegel's thought.