Daniel Tutt once mentioned on his Emancipations Podcast that Georg Lucaks (an Orthodox Marxist) called Burnham 'the American Mussolini'. Certainly Burnham's ideas are quite scary; abandon democracy, freedom only comes from competition, rulers are a social fact and necessity, but all of this is in service of true freedom.

Burnham is looking for truth, not ideology. He looks to political science in its highest meaning. His analysis of Machiavelli, Sorrel, Michels, and especially Pareto are quite interesting and thought provoking. One thing that I particularly enjoyed was his analysis of the motion of the ruling class. When do new people join the rulers? What happens when a ruling class becomes ossified and does not allow new entries? How much fluctuation do we want in the rulers?

I would recommend this book, it goes into many different topics, and attempts to stay true to science. He proudly proclaims his truth, and he dares you to prove him wrong. If you do not agree with him, you better get to work!