'If in this book harsh words are spoken about some of the greatest among the intellectual leaders of mankind, my motive is not, I hope, to belittle them. It springs rather from my conviction that, if our civilization is to survive, we must break with the habit of deference to great men.' - Karl Popper, from the Preface Written in political exile during the Second World War and first published in two volumes in 1945, Karl Popper's The Open Society and Its Enemies is one of the most influential books of all time. Hailed by Bertrand Russell as a 'vigorous and profound defence of democracy', its now legendary attack on the philosophies of Plato, Hegel and Marx exposed the dangers inherent in centrally planned political systems and through underground editions become an inspiration to lovers of freedom living under communism in Eastern Europe. Popper's highly accessible style, his erudite and lucid explanations of the thoughts of great philosophers and the recent resurgence of totalitarian regimes around the world are just three of the reasons for the enduring popularity of The Open Society and Its Enemies and why it demands to be read today and in years to come.

卡尔·波普尔爵士（Sir Karl Raimund Popper）是当代西方杰出的科学哲学家和社会哲学家。他的《历史决定论的贫困》（The Poverty of Historicism）和《开放社会及其敌人》（The Open Society and its Enemies）是西方民主思想宝库中的经典著作。波普尔曾经由于这两部书获得过英国女皇颁授的爵位。