Acknowledgements; Introduction; Bibliographical note; Preface to the first edition; Preface to the third edition; Foreword to the fourth edition; Part I. The Spirit of Conquest: 1. The virtues compatible with war at given stages of social development; 2. The character of modern nations in relation to war; 3. The spirit of conquest in the present condition of Europe; 4. Of a military race acting on self-interest alone; 5. A further reason for the deterioration of the military class within the system of conquest; 6. The influence of this military spirit upon the internal condition of nations; 7. A further drawback of the formation of this military spirit; 8. The effect of a conquering government upon the mass of the nation; 9. Means of coercion necessary to supplement upon the mass of the nation; 10. Further drawbacks of the system of warfare for enlightenment and the educated class; 11. The point of view from which a conquering nation today would regard its own successes; 12. Effect of these successes upon the conquered peoples; 13. On uniformity; 14. The inevitable end to the successes of a conquering nation; 15. Results of the system of warfare in the present age; Part II. Usurpation: 1. The specific aim of the comparison between usurpation and monarchy; 2. Differences between usurpation and monarchy; 3. One respect in which usurpation is more hateful than absolute despotism; 4. Usurpation cannot survive in this period of our civilisation; 5. Can usurpation not be maintained by force?; 6. The kind of liberty offered to men at the end of the last century; 7. The modern imitators of the republics of antiquity; 8. The means employed to give to the moderns the liberty of the ancients; 9. Does the aversion of the moderns for this pretended liberty imply that they love despotism?; 10. A sophism in favour of arbitrary power excercised by one man; 11. The effects of arbitrary power upon intellectual progress; 12. Religion under arbitrary power; 13. Men's inability to resign themselves voluntarily to arbitrary power in any form; 14. Despotism as a means of preserving usurpation; 15. The effect of illegal and despotism measures on regular governments themselves; 16. Implications of the preceding considerations in relation to despotism; 17. Causes which make despotism particularly impossible at this age of our civilisation; 18. As usurpation cannot be maintained through despotism, since in our days despotism itself cannot last, usurpation has no chance of enduring; Additions to The spirit of conquest and usurpation; Bibliographical note; Bibliography; Index.