First published 2008
Richard Reeves presents John Stuart Mill as both intellectual giant and man of action in Victorian England. Mill emerged from an unusual upbringing designed by his father to create a happiness-promoting philosopher. He became the nineteenth century's most influential English thinker and authored the landmark On Liberty. Reeves shows how Mill wielded his pen as a journalist demanding Irish land reform during famine and his political power as an MP introducing the first women's suffrage vote. Mill fought for free speech, opposed slavery, and conducted a twenty-year love affair with a married woman. Reeves examines Mill's ideas alongside his life experiences to reveal how personal struggles shaped philosophical breakthroughs. The biography captures a reformer driven by his father's teachings who dedicated himself to advancing truth and liberty for all people.
Genres: biography, history, 19th-century, academic
Vibes: intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: intellectual-hero, social-justice
Setting: England, Ireland
Period: 19th-century
487 pages · Paperback · Atlantic Books