Book cover of Freedom from Fear: An Incomplete History of Liberalism

Book description

A provocative new history of liberalism that also provides a road map for today's liberals

Freedom from Fear offers a striking new account of the dominant political and social theory of our time: liberalism. In a pathbreaking reframing of the historical debate, Alan Kahan charts the development of Western liberalism…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Freedom from Fear as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Despite its subtitle, this is one of the most comprehensive histories of liberal thought and practice ever written and is up to date with many recent developments, having been published in late 2023. It should be read alongside Edmund Fawcett’s similarly grand-scale history of liberalism.

Where it differs is in a somewhat more polemical or argumentative tone from Alan S. Kahan, who has a distinctive interpretation of liberalism, its essence, and its many challenges (particularly current challenges from populist politics). Kahan’s arguments won’t convince everybody, but they’ll dominate discussions of liberalism as a political outlook for years to come. If…

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Book cover of December on 5C4

December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

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At five years old, Kasiel was found with the pointed ends of his ears cut off. Despite that brutal start, he’s lived twelve peaceful years with the man who took him in. Keeping his hair long over his mutilated ears helps him hide the fact that he is Vanrian, a…

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In late April 1865, almost 2,000 newly freed Union prisoners of war are packed onto the steamer Sultana, in poor repair and with a listed capacity of 376 passengers. Among them are four Indiana soldiers…

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