The late James Adam's edition of The Republic of Plato was published in 1902 and has long been out of print; it still remains among the most detailed and valuable critical editions available. D. A. Rees, Fellow and Tutor of Jesus College, Oxford, has written an introduction of 15,000 words for this edition. In it, he surveys Adam's work on The Republic and reviews subsequent work on the textual problems, language and meaning of the book. The book is divided into two volumes; Volume I, printed here, Introduction and Books I–V, and Volume II. Books VI–X and Indexes.

Introduction by: D. A. Rees