by Brian Doherty (Author)



Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Modern libertarians see themselves as the loyal opposition to the
totalitarian tendencies of centralized power, in an American tradition
reaching back to the anti-Federalists. Doherty's astute history shows
where that consensus comes from and where it fractures along personal,
political and practical lines. As a procapitalist and antistatist
philosophy, libertarianism has had its greatest impact in economics. But
Doherty shows that modern libertarianism since the 1940s, and increasingly
since the 1980s, has been politically and ideologically influential, too.
Whether believers in a small state regulating only contracts and national
defense, or no state at all (like self-described “anarcho-capitalist�
Murray Rothbard), libertarians have rooted themselves in a number of
institutions—from schools, publications and think tanks to the Libertarian
Party, the country's third-largest ticket. Reason magazine senior editor
Doherty conveys an insider's understanding in clear, confident prose.
However, his sympathies resist questioning the fundamental assumption
uniting diverse ideas, personalities and institutions: the belief in the
power of completely unfettered markets to bring about the best possible
society. Though partisan and sometimes hagiographic, Doherty's
well-researched history avoids polemics in outlining a vital political
orientation that cuts across the political spectrum.

(Laissez Faire Books)
"[Doherty] has done an impressive job of pulling together an interesting,
enlightening, and entertaining history of the American libertarian movement."

Product Details

Hardcover: 768 pages
Publisher: PublicAffairs (February 12, 2007)
Language: English