Inventing Freedom: How the English-Speaking Peoples Made the Modern World

BritishpoliticianDanielHannan'sInventingFreedomisanambitiousaccountofthehistoricaloriginandspreadoftheprinciplesthathavemadeAmericagreat,andtheirroleincreatingasphereofeconomicandpoliticallibertythatisascrucialasitisimperiled.AccordingtoHannan,theideasandinstitutionsweconsideressentialtomaintainingandpreservingourfreedoms—individualrights,privateproperty,theruleoflaw,andtheinstitutionsofrepresentativegovernment—arethelegacyofaveryspecifictraditionthatwasborninEnglandandthatweAmericans,alongwithotherformerBritishcolonies,inherited.Bythetenthcentury,Englandwasanation-statewhosepeoplewerealreadystartingtodefinethemselveswithreferencetoinheritedcommon-lawrights.Thestoryoflibertyisthestoryofhowthatmodeltriumphed.Howitwasenshrinedinaseriesoflandmarkvictories—theMagnaCarta,theEnglishCivilWar,theGloriousRevolution,theU.S.Constitution—andhowitcametodefeateveryinternationalrival.Todayweseethoseideasabandonedandscornedintheplaceswheretheyoncewentunchallenged.InventingFreedomisachronicleofthesuccessofAnglosphereexceptionalism.Anditisofferedatatimethatmayturnouttobetheendoftheageofpoliticalfreedom.