Inventing Freedom - by Daniel Hannan (Paperback)

About the Book

British politician Daniel Hannan's Inventing Freedom is an ambitious account of the historical origin and spread of the principles that have made America great, and their role in creating a sphere of economic and political liberty that is as crucial as it is imperiled.

According to Hannan, the ideas and institutions we consider essential to maintaining and preserving our freedoms--individual rights, private property, the rule of law, and the institutions of representative government--are the legacy of a very specific tradition that was born in England and that we Americans, along with other former British colonies, inherited.

By the tenth century, England was a nation-state whose people were already starting to define themselves with reference to inherited common-law rights. The story of liberty is the story of how that model triumphed. How it was enshrined in a series of landmark victories--the Magna Carta, the English Civil War, the Glorious Revolution, the U.S. Constitution--and how it came to defeat every international rival.

Today we see those ideas abandoned and scorned in the places where they once went unchallenged. Inventing Freedom is a chronicle of the success of Anglosphere exceptionalism. And it is offered at a time that may turn out to be the end of the age of political freedom.

Book Synopsis

British politician Daniel Hannan's Inventing Freedom is an ambitious account of the historical origin and spread of the principles that have made America great, and their role in creating a sphere of economic and political liberty that is as crucial as it is imperiled.

According to Hannan, the ideas and institutions we consider essential to maintaining and preserving our freedoms--individual rights, private property, the rule of law, and the institutions of representative government--are the legacy of a very specific tradition that was born in England and that we Americans, along with other former British colonies, inherited.

By the tenth century, England was a nation-state whose people were already starting to define themselves with reference to inherited common-law rights. The story of liberty is the story of how that model triumphed. How it was enshrined in a series of landmark victories--the Magna Carta, the English Civil War, the Glorious Revolution, the U.S. Constitution--and how it came to defeat every international rival.

Today we see those ideas abandoned and scorned in the places where they once went unchallenged. Inventing Freedom is a chronicle of the success of Anglosphere exceptionalism. And it is offered at a time that may turn out to be the end of the age of political freedom.

From the Back Cover

Inventing Freedom is an ambitious account of the historical origin and spread of the principles that have made our country great, and their role in creating a sphere of economic and political liberty that is as crucial as it is imperiled. According to British politician Daniel Hannan, the ideas and institutions we consider essential to maintaining and preserving our freedoms--individual rights, private property, the rule of law, and representative government--are the legacy of a very specific tradition that was born in England.

By the tenth century, a thousand years before most modern countries, England was a nation-state whose people were beginning to define themselves by inherited common-law rights. The story of liberty is the story of how that model triumphed, enshrined in a series of landmark victories--the Magna Carta, the English Civil War, the Glorious Revolution, the US Constitution--and how it came to defeat every international rival. Yet today these ideas are being abandoned and scorned. A chronicle of the success of Anglosphere exceptionalism, Inventing Freedom explains why the extraordinary idea that the state was the servant, not the ruler, of the individual evolved uniquely in the English-speaking world.

Review Quotes

"Daniel Hannan is admired and respected for the clarity of his convictions and his ability to articulate them with profundity and pragmatism. His intellect is unmatched, his wit softens the blows of his stinging assessment of the decline of Western civilization, and his courage to take on pompous political correctness is a joy to behold!" - Mike Huckabee, governor of Arkansas, 1996-2007
"Daniel Hannan's Inventing Freedom is a lively, well-written piece of advocacy for the decisive influence of the Anglosphere on world affairs. These nations must all retain a strong self-belief in how important their common traditions are to the future of freedom all around the world." - John Howard, prime minister of Australia, 1996-2007
"In the dreary halls of Brussels, Dan Hannan, MEP, has brilliantly championed British nationality and British liberty. Now as a historian, Hannan audaciously argues the full and passionate case for what Britain means--and what Britishness can teach the world." - David Frum, Daily Beast and CNN
"With the eloquence of Macaulay or Trevelyan--both of whom are liberally quoted here--Hannan sweeps us through English history to show the triumph of law-based liberty and "that total understanding which can only exist between people speaking the same tongue." - The Telegraph (UK)
"Hannan's well-written book is an excellent politically incorrect history of England." - Washington Free Beacon
"Equal parts history and political theory, Inventing Freedom is a thought-provoking and stirring read for the holidays." - The Blaze
"Freedom, parliamentary democracy, and equality before the law are not universal values but products of a specific English-speaking civilization. Here is a powerful and convincing thesis put across in vivid, rich, and enjoyable prose." - Charles Moore, official biographer of Margaret Thatcher