When it was first published in 2000, Harvey Mansfield and Delba Winthrop\'s new translation of Democracy in America was lauded in all quarters as the finest and most definitive edition of Tocqueville\'s classic - complete with the most faithful and readable translation to date, impeccable annotations of unfamiliar references, and a substantial introduction placing the work and its author in the broader contexts of political philosophy and statesmanship. Mansfield and Winthrop\'s astonishing efforts have not only captured the elegance, subtlety, and profundity of Tocqueville\'s original, but they also offer proof of how very essential this masterpiece continues to be.