...a vigorous and challenging defence of direct realism in which one gets not only a clear overview of what precisely the problems are, but also a forceful and often insightful attempt to solve them. ...the book makes a highly readable and stimulating contribution to recent literature in the philosophy of perception.' Critical Philosophy, 2:1 (1985)

This book defends realism in the study of international politics and demonstrates the heuristic and evaluative utility of Robert Berki's interpretation of political realism and political idealism. It argues that realism is not a meaningless term nor redundant and necessarily rhetorical in politics.