Montesquieu's "Spirit of the Laws" is perhaps the most frequently cited unread classic among political Sunday speakers. However, anyone who undertakes the reading of this extremely extensive work will realize that a systematic presentation of even the most essential lines of thought encounters a tremendous obstacle: Montesquieu cannot be summarized. He has many intentions but no cohesive system. If one does not want to fall into the extremely common simplification, one must find other means than the usual reworking. Alfred J. Noll attempts to fully unfold Montesquieu's work through a well-structured "Abecedarium" consisting of about a dozen keywords related to the Spirit of the Laws. He also extensively addresses Montesquieu's literary works, his historical writings, and his posthumously published texts.