<DIV>In this book a distinguished philosopher offers a comprehensive interpretation of Plato&#8217;s most controversial dialogue. Treating the <I>Republic </I>as a unity and focusing on the dramatic form as the presentation of the argument, Stanley Rosen challenges earlier analyses of the <I>Republic </I>(including the ironic reading of Leo Strauss and his disciples) and argues that the key to understanding the dialogue is to grasp the author&#8217;s intention in composing it, in particular whether Plato believed that the city constructed in the <I>Republic </I>is possible and desirable.</P>Rosen demonstrates that the fundamental principles underlying the just city are theoretically attractive but that the attempt to enact them in practice leads to conceptual incoherence and political disaster. The <I>Republic, </I>says Rosen, is a vivid illustration of the irreconcilability of philosophy and political practice.</P></DIV>