How to Be a Liberal: The Story of Freedom and the Fight for its Survival

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A liberal monarchy is possible, which is why we use the adjective “absolute” to describe the illiberal version. The EU grew from a determination to link the economies of the warring nations so tightly that war between them would become impossible. But what makes How to Be a Liberal truly unique is Dunt's emphasis on the importance of humor and irony in the defense of liberalism. In a soaring narrative that stretches from the battlefields of the English Civil War to the 2008 financial crash and beyond, he'll explain the political ideas which underpin the modern world. Being Liberal for a long time and being jaded about today's political situation, this was a good overview of history of liberalism and definitely an inspirational of why I became one in the first place.

I find the author's non-fatalistic viewpoint refreshing, but I can't quite share in his cautious optimism. I assume that the adjective “liberal” works in much the same way with regard to Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists—and I will try to say something about liberal religions generally in a moment. It is an interesting question whether there are groups, parties, ideologies, identities that can’t be modified by the adjective “liberal. In this view, it is liberal to wrestle with the truth and try to discover it in specific problems, rather than applying universal policies and resolutions. I was given this as a present and was so impressed that I bought two more copies for my (grown-up) kids.The message is no less than a rallying cry for Liberals to embrace the tradition of Radical Liberalism and stand out and proud about their values. As he guides you through the story of liberalism, and the walls it has had to demolish at every blood-stained step on its way to where we are today, you'll get the point of his urgency. The competing visions of Keynes and Hayek were in fact both facets of liberalism: one emphasising freedom through low unemployment and the individual opportunities thereby created; and the other focusing on low inflation and freedom of choice for the individual consumer.

Russian disinformation programs have turned democratic processes upside down eschewing values and beliefs in the west through a program of annexation of Ukraine as they attempted to thwart its entry into Europe. It is an old doctrine of socialist militants that the overthrow of capitalism will require a period of dictatorship or, at least, a temporary suspension of civil liberties—a democratic dictatorship of the proletariat or, more likely, an undemocratic dictatorship of the vanguard of the proletariat. If there is liberal argument for leaving the EU, such as an the European Commission being an executive which is not directly elected or the European Parliament being elected by an electorate which had no homogenous identity and inspires no loyalty, then you won't find it here. And it would also teach the history of local minority religions and of other countries and their religions: the ancient Greeks, the ancient Israelites, the origins of Islam, Chinese Confucianism, and much else. We don’t talk about its absence, we simply live it and when we need to we stand up and fight for it, defend it, talk about the way it is threatened.Dunt's book is a timely and important contribution to the debate about liberalism in the 21st century. To clarify, this audiobook is by no means a comprehensive history, nor does the actual book itself contain sources apart from the author citing the experts he worked with in the Afterword.

Indeed, the adjective “liberal” guarantees that everyone is in fact brought in—as they mostly haven’t been in the history of actually existing democracies from Athens to the United States. In this groundbreaking new book, Ian Dunt tells the story of liberalism, from its birth in the fight against absolute monarchy to the modern-day resistance against the new populism.Although no swears were harmed in the making of this book, this is not the contemporary political commentary for which Dunt has made his name. The latter part of the book examines the modern rise of populism and the challenge it poses to liberal democracy. Dunt's book didn't offer (me, at least) any original insight into the failure of the Western liberal consensus; although, as a consolation I can say that it does provide an interesting history of certain liberal thinkers.