First published 2013
Daniel Hannan argues that the freedoms Americans cherish originated in medieval England and spread through the English-speaking world. He traces how individual rights, private property, rule of law, and representative government emerged from English common law traditions by the tenth century. Hannan chronicles key moments when these principles advanced: the Magna Carta, English Civil War, Glorious Revolution, and U.S. Constitution. He contends that former British colonies inherited this specific tradition of liberty, which then defeated competing international systems. The book examines how Anglosphere nations created a sphere of economic and political freedom. Hannan warns that these ideas now face abandonment in places where they once dominated. He presents this history of liberty's triumph at a moment when political freedom itself may be ending.
Genres: history, political-science, world-history, non-fiction, academic, american-history
Vibes: thought-provoking
Tropes: historical-non-fiction
Setting: England, United States
Period: 10th Century, Glorious Revolution, Medieval, U.S. Constitution
416 pages · Kindle Edition · Broadside Books