Calgary Public Library

The lost history of liberalism, from ancient Rome to the Twenty-First century, Helena Rosenblatt

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 279-331) and index

no index present

non fiction

The lost history of liberalism

Helena Rosenblatt

from ancient Rome to the Twenty-First century

"The Lost History of Liberalism challenges our most basic assumptions about a political creed that has become a rallying cry - and a term of derision - in today's increasingly divided public square. Taking readers from ancient Rome to today, Helena Rosenblatt traces the evolution of the words "liberal" and "liberalism," revealing the heated debates that have taken place over their meaning. In this timely and provocative book, Rosenblatt debunks the popular myth of liberalism as a uniquely Anglo-American tradition centered on individual rights. It was only during the Cold War and America's growing world hegemony that liberalism was refashioned into an American ideology focused so strongly on individual freedoms."--Book jacket

What It Meant to Be Liberal from Cicero to Lafayette -- The French Revolution and the Origins of Liberalism, 1789-1830 -- Liberalism, Democracy, and the Emergence of the Social Question, 1830-48 -- The Question of Character -- Caesarism and Liberal Democracy: Napoleon III, Lincoln, Gladstone, and Bismarck -- The Battle to Secularize Education -- Two Liberalisms: Old and New -- Liberalism Becomes the American Creed